The Runner-Up
by AutumnnPrincess
Summary: This is the story about what happened to Randall Boggs after Monsters Inc. ended. He finds himself in the human world, alone, afraid, hurt and depressed, and the only thing on his mind is how he s going to get home. He eventually gets the chance, but when he finally comes back to Monstropolis, there are big changes ahead of him... Changes he never saw coming. SulleyXRandall
1. Chapter 1: Banishment

**Hi there!**

**Oh dear, where to start? I`m so excited about this, and I really don`t know what to say. Except that what you are about to read is the first chapter of my first fanfic – ever! It is about my latest crush and obsession, Randall Boggs from _Monsters Inc._ and _Monsters University_. I`ve read a lot of good fanfics about him lately, and I felt like trying to write one of my own as well. We can`t have too many Randall-fanfics, can we? Besides, Randall deserves his happy ending, and I am going to give him just that:)**

**So, this story functions as a sequel to _Monsters Inc.,_ and starts up a couple of hours after Mike and Sulley banished Randall to the human world. I don`t want to give away the details here, but I _can_ say that the story will include humour, drama and – you guessed it – romance *blinks***

**I would like to state that I do not own _Monsters Inc., Monsters University_ or any of the characters in this story; they are all copyrighted Disney/Pixar.**

**But that`s enough from me, now it`s your turn! Read my first chapter and tell me what you think:) I hope you will enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Banishment**

Randall Boggs tried to get up. His eyes narrowed as he tried to take in his unfamiliar surroundings: Where was he? What had just happened? He had a terrible headache, worse than the ones he would normally get if he went around without his glasses on for too long, and he could hardly remember a thing. The last event he was able to recall was being thrown through a door by Sulley and Mike, and now suddenly he found himself in some kind of a swamp, his head and, well entire body actually, aching. He stood up, only to cause his head to spin and vision to blur, and he fell back down, hurting one of his left knees as well. He cursed to himself as he tightly shut his eyes, trying to make the headache go away, while stroking his bad knee with his lower set of arms. He had to wait a couple of minutes before he tried to get up again, with the same pitiful result – only now he felt nauseous as well.

Randall decided to give it a few more minutes before he would try to get up again. While he was lying there in the wet grass he tried his best to recall what exactly had happened to him after his express shipment through the door to the human world, but he couldn`t figure it out – he was completely blank, and, when he gave it a closer thought, that was actually okay. He had obviously been beaten up or something, and he didn`t feel the urge to remember any of that after all. His pride was hurting enough at the moment, thank you very much.

Randall`s skin was of the sensitive kind, and his very randomly selected resting place had started to give him some chills. So for the third time, he tried to rise and stand up. This time he actually managed to take a couple of steps, before he fell down again – this time he threw up. He was happy no one was around to see him like this, but he still felt _so_ embarrassed – here he was, the second top-scarer in Monstropolis, laying half dead on the ground, without even being able to stand up properly. He growled and laid down his head - he didn`t feel like trying to get up again only to make a fool of himself, he just felt _so_ tired.

* * *

Randall woke up after a couple of hours, freezing. His body was shivering and still aching, and when he opened his eyes, his surroundings spun. He quickly closed them again, and tried to curl himself up in an attempt to save what was left of his body heat. He felt just as if he had caught the flu, except from one tiny detail – when he did have the flu, he had the luxury of knowing that it would go away again after a few days in bed with tea and a heating bottle. This would not go away for all the tea in the universe. He was in the human world, he was beaten up, he was sick, he was lost and there was nothing he could do about it – or was there? He suddenly thought back: So many things had happened to him during the last 24 hours, and while he was in the middle of it, he hadn`t really had the time to think them all over – but now he did. He recalled that for just a few hours ago, he had helped his boss, Mister Waternoose, banish Sullivan and Mike to the human world, but they came running right back into the factory after what had felt like five minutes, max. It wasn`t until now Randall realized what that meant: It _was_ possible to get back to the monster world after being banished; he just had to find a kid`s room with a closet door in it to escape through!

Filled up with the new, wonderful idea that he could be back home again in just a couple of hours made Randall stand up and half walk, half run in a random direction, he didn`t even notice that he still wasn`t feeling very well – until he tripped and fell over, twisted one of his ankles - and threw up again. He could just cry, when was this nightmare going to end? However, the idea of getting back to Monstropolis overshadowed everything. He started crawling on all eight, in the same random direction – it had to lead him _somewhere_.

* * *

"Monsters Incorporated out of business!" "Illegal activity detected at Monsters Inc.!" "Henry J. Waternoose features in kidnapping scandal!" The big headlines were all over Monstropolis, shouting out their messages loud and clear from every news-stand in town. The same news rolled over the city`s television screens over and over again, and if you could find a single monster in all of Monstropolis who hadn`t heard, seen or read the latest news, he would be worth a fortune.

Mike Wasowski and James P. Sullivan sat in their downtown flat over a cup of morning coffee. Sulley was dead tired. The last couple of days had been intense, and the time yet to come didn`t exactly look to promising either. After Waternoose`s arrest last night, it was obvious to Sulley that all of the newspaper-headlines were right: Monsters Inc. was out of business.

"…the crisis first became clear to the public when a young human child was spotted on a local sushi restaurant"; the television reporter`s voice was loud and nasal, and filled the entire apartment in a very unpleasant way.

"Turn it off, will you, Mike?" Sulley didn`t want any reminders of Boo just yet.

"But I`m watching it, what if our commercial airs again?", Mike replied.

"It won`t", Sulley answered, sounding a bit more grumpy now, "they won`t air a commercial for something that is out of business!"

"Who says the company is out of business?" Mike sounded surprisingly enthusiastic for the occasion; "Didn`t we plan to get it back on track again? C`mon big guy, don`t tell me you have forgotten about this already? Jeez, your memory`s playing you tricks, you`re getting old!"

Sulley found himself only partly listening to his best friend; but there was nothing unusual about that, in fact, that was what he normally did. Mike was a constant talker, and due to that, it seemed as if all of his friends had developed some kind of filter, so that they didn`t have to take in all the different utterances that could make their way out of the little, green monster`s mouth.

"Yesterday", Mike continued, "when you said "laughter", remember? Laughter is like ten times more powerful than screams! Well anyway, didn`t you mention something about re-opening the factory and power the city with laugh-energy? Come on Sulley, that was what you said, I remember it as if it had been yesterday! Well - this _was_ yesterday, but – you get the point!"

By now, Mike had finally succeeded in catching Sulley`s attention. However, the blue monster wasn`t responding in the way he was hoping for:

"Well yeah, but Mike, that was just an idea! I don`t know anything about running a company, I wasn`t being serious about it!"

"So I`ll help you!" Mike`s optimism really was worth envying, and today the green monster was on a roll. "Come on Sulley, we can make it if we work together! Imagine what our lives can be like! We`ll be rich! Famous! Everybody in the monster-world will know my name, and-"

"_Your_ name?" Sulley`s voice was serious, but he couldn`t hide the little smile he had on his face.

"Well, _our_ names, then!" Mike didn`t give Sulley`s interruption much thought, and went on; "We can _totally_ pull this off, Sul! We can do anything, me and you! Just yesterday we dealt with Randall all on our own – and don`t you remember when we blasted open that door from the summer camp in college? This is actually just like that, you know; with you being a negative jerk saying that you can`t do this and you can`t do that, when you really _do_ have it in you! I know it! Come on, let`s go down there now and make ourselves a deal!"

Mike stopped for a moment to draw some air. He was truly determined about this idea, and deep inside, Sulley knew where this was heading. Mike would normally get his will when he was into something, mostly because everybody tended to give in to him just to shut him up.

"Okay then, Mike", Sulley finally said, slowly getting up from his chair, "let`s go down to the factory and try to make ourselves a deal, then!" He still didn`t believe it would work, but he thought what the heck, he`d just go with Mike, if nothing else, then at least for the entertainment.

"Great!" Mike cheered, "but there`s no need to rush things here, Sul. Will you please allow me to finish my coffee..? Jeez, since when did you get so busy you`d have to skip breakfast?"

Sulley sat down again, and he couldn`t think of anything better to do than smile.

* * *

A part of Randall wanted to give up. He had lived in a messy shed in some garden in the human world for more than a month now, and things didn`t look very good. He had a hard time finding food, he had a constant headache since his glasses were still in Monstropolis, and he hadn`t slept well since he had gotten there. He always tried to close his eyes and rest during the day time, but it was hard to sleep when the sun was up. He also had to deal with the constant fear of being spotted by the humans who owned the garden, so even when he did sleep, he tried to keep one eye open. When it got dark outside, he always, with no exceptions, forced himself up and out - the nights were important. They were all spent perfectly camouflaged in different bedrooms, staring impatiently at closet doors, waiting for one of Monster Inc.`s employees to enter through it, scare the inhabitant of the room and leave the door open for a few seconds, just long enough for Randall to enter through it and get his life back.

After another lousy night without success, Randall slithered back to his garden shed with the hopes of getting some sleep; although he already knew for himself that it wasn`t going to happen. He had too much on his mind – his headache wouldn`t let go, he was tired, sad, and – God forbid – scared. Thoughts filled up his head as he entered the shed: why wasn`t anybody coming? He had been in every single bedroom in the entire village, but none of them had gotten any monster visits in the night time during the last month. As a former scarer at Monsters Inc., Randall knew that many of the children in this particular village was on the "to scare" list in the factory, and he found it really, really weird that it hadn`t happened while he had been there. What was going on?

Still with the bad thoughts spinning around in his mind, Randall cradled himself up in his favourite corner of the shed - the one that caused him the least discomfort, that is - and closed his eyes – only to open them again right away, as if he had been struck by lightning. The idea that had struck him caused his blood to freeze and the fronds on the top of his head to rise: What had actually happened to the factory after Sullivan and Mike had thrown him through that door? Obviously, they had told all of Monstropolis about what was going on, Waternoose was probably arrested, and the factory – what had happened to the factory?

Randall could feel the panic crawl through all of his limbs; if the factory was out of business, how the hell was he supposed to get back? No wonder he hadn`t seen any monsters here for a bloody month, all the doors that connected the human world and the monster world were probably still hanging in that darn storage place at the factory! Randall didn`t know what to do, he almost forgot how to breathe - he had never felt this terrified, alone and hopeless before in his life. He lay down again, trying his best to stay calm; but his hands were shaking and the terrible idea of him being stuck in the human world for the rest of his days wouldn`t let go. He couldn`t stop thinking about it, his headache was still pounding, and suddenly, as his hopes of being able to return to his home began to decrease, he could feel his cheeks getting wet. He didn`t do anything to try to stop the tears from falling – it wasn`t like anyone were around to see them anyway - and gave in to the first real cry he had had in years.

* * *

Randall had it all figured out. It was late in the evening, and the sun had set a couple of hours ago. Randall hadn`t slept all day, as he couldn`t stop thinking about the possibility that Monsters Inc. could be out of business. His eyes were sore from crying, and he felt as if he had a fever. However, all of those hours of staring at the ceiling had led to one good thing – he had a new plan. He knew exactly what to do, and he intended to do so this very night – when he was sure there were no humans around to see him. So when he saw that the lights in the house next to his shed were put out, he slithered through the door and onto the lawn. His plan was simple – he would sneak out of the garden, he would sneak out of the village, he would sneak into the forest, he would locate a nice little pond, he would step into the pond, and finally, he would drown himself in the pond. Easy!

As he started moving towards the garden fence, he thought about what it would feel like to die. He wasn`t exactly looking forward to the process, but he could hardly wait for the stillness afterwards. Besides, whatever dying felt like, it had to be an improvement from the last month, though. He passed one of the house`s windows, the fence was only five meters away. He passed another window, and just as he did, he felt like he had to sneeze; he turned his head slightly to the left and raised his arm so that he could sneeze into his elbow. When he turned his head, the corner of his eye caught something happening in the window right next to him. Randall fully turned around, mouth open, eyes wide; he could hardly believe the sight that met his eyes inside the bedroom he was gazing into.

It was a child`s room, and the child itself, a little blonde girl, was sitting up straight in her bed, smiling with anticipation. On the other side of the room there was a closet (Randall had lost count on how many nights he had stared at it), and in front of the closet door, there was a very familiar figure – a slightly big, hairy monster, with a horn in the middle of his face. The room was dark, but Randall could see that the monster`s fur was striped, in the colours of orange and yellow. The monster held a watermelon under his left arm, and in his right arm he held a rubber hammer.

Randall went over to the window to watch the scene; with eyes wide and mouth still open, he saw how the monster tried to smash the watermelon with the rubber hammer. The little girl in the bed was giggling as she watched him. The monster eventually seemed to understand that the rubber hammer was not the right tool to use when you want to smash a watermelon, and so he tried to get it open by hitting himself in the head with it as well. Now the little girl started laughing, and as the melon broke and the monster`s head was covered in its content, she was laughing so much her eyes twinkled with tears.

The striped monster took a deep bow, before he turned around to face the closet door, reaching for its handle. It wasn`t until this moment Randall realized what was happening right there in front of his eyes. There was an active door to the monster world less than three meters from where he was standing, and it was about to disappear again any second. While he tried not to allow panic to take him over, he started to look for the quickest way for him to enter the room. He noticed that the window he was looking through was half open, and before he knew what he was doing and what was going on, he camouflaged, swung the window fully open, entered the room and started running like a maniac towards the door, that was now about to be closed.

* * *

**Okay, that`s it for now. Poor Randall, he`s really messed up, isn`t he? At first, I believed writing this chapter would be sad, but I actually enjoyed myself – I tried to make Randall`s situation sound like a dark comedy or something, where things are so bad that you just have to smile..! But I do feel sorry for him, and in case you do the same: things will get brighter in the next chapter:) I don`t know exactly when it will be out, but I think it will be ready on Thursday – so remember to check in around that time!**

**I hope you liked the first chapter of my story, make sure to leave a review now! I would love to know what you think!**


	2. Ch2: Monstropolis Sweet Monstropolis

**Hello again!**

**I managed to finish my second chapter last night – I`ve looked it over so many times, and now I need to get it off my mind and into the world! It`s only 7am here, but I can`t wait any longer - time to publish!**

**Thanks for the reviews on the first chapter – I`ve seen that you want me to space out my text more (thanks for telling me!), and I have had that in mind when I`ve worked with this one. I hope it`s better, but please tell me if it`s still hard to read.**

**Sooo, this is the chapter where Randall gets back to Monstropolis – of course with some obstacles along the way. It was so much fun to write this one, and I hope you will enjoy reading it too – I`m really nervous when it comes to your opinions, and I hope I won`t let you down..!**

**As for Randall`s love interest, you`ll have to wait and see..! It`s coming, and yes - it`s someone blue;)**

**Also, please note that I am Norwegian, and English is only my second language. I try to vary my choice of words and expressions, but if I do repeat something – or have errors in my grammar – please forgive me;) I`m doing my best! **

**That`s all I have to say for now, here`s the new chapter! Have fun!**

**Chapter 2: Monstropolis Sweet Monstropolis**

George Sanderson was happy to be back at work. After the scandal with Monsters Inc.`s former boss, Mister Waternoose, the factory had been closed for more than a month, and although George had enjoyed having some time off, he had been missing his colleges and friends from work – and the work itself too, after a while.

Luckily his friends, James P. Sullivan and Mike Wasowski, had managed to make a deal with the right people, and now the factory was up and running again – but with one big difference; earlier, George had been a scarer, a monster who went into children`s bedrooms at night to scare them and collect their screams. Now, he worked as an entertainer – a monster who entered children`s bedrooms, still in the night time, but to make them laugh.

Laugher was the monster world`s new source of energy, and was what the workers were going to collect from now on. It was way more powerful than screams, and to tell the truth, George felt so much better about himself when he made the kids laugh instead of scream.

It was the first day at work since the factory had re-opened, and George was on his fifth door of the day, feeling very satisfied with himself. He had just smashed a watermelon to his head, which had caused a little girl to laugh so much she had cried. He felt confident and happy as he half walked; half danced through the door to get back into the factory, and shared a smile with his laugh-assistant as he was closing the door behind himself.

Right before the door was fully shut, it was suddenly pulled open again with a mighty force; George, who still had his hand on the handle, was pulled back into the bedroom, where he fell over. While lying on the wooden floor, crawling, he could swear that somebody was stepping right over him, but he couldn`t see anyone – he just felt the weight and what clearly felt like someone`s feet. But it all happened so fast, and the whole experience was over as soon as it had begun.

George got back up on his feet, confused but fine. With a startled look on his face, he walked back out through the door again, only to be met by a cry from his assistant saying "2319!" As he looked down at himself, he noticed a sock being stuck on his left knee which was where his assistant was pointing. Bad memories caused him to run and hide behind his desk, but this time, the only thing happening was Mike telling the eager assistant;

"Can it will ya, children are no longer toxic, remember?"

George let out a relived sigh, and came out from his hideout, accepting the towel handed to him by Sulley to clean of the melon-mess. Very soon he had forgotten about the whole experience.

* * *

Randall`s heart was beating so fast and loud he was actually afraid that somebody would hear it and discover him despite his camouflage. He could hardly believe it, but he was back where he belonged! He had managed to get through George Sanderson`s door without being spotted or sensed by anyone – well, maybe except from George Sanderson himself, but he didn`t count (everyone knew he had gotten a little nerve problem after some bad experiences with the CDA around the time catastrophe had hit Monsters Inc.) - and then he had gotten himself successfully out of the factory without any further problems.

By now, Randall was out on the street, running when he had the energy to do so, determined to reach his own apartment as quick as possible and without encounters with anyone. It felt so weird to be back. He had been dreaming about this for more than a month, but now that he was finally here, he felt like no time had gone by at all. Everything looked, smelled and felt just like it had done a month ago, before his banishment. "It`s as if I`ve never been gone at all", he thought to himself as he reached the building that held his apartment, insulted by the fact that the life in Monstropolis hadn`t stopped when he went missing.

Randall lived a couple of minutes outside the city centre, in a nice, calm neighbourhood mostly populated by elderly citizens. The white building he lived in was surrounded by a well groomed lawn, a fence with a gate, some rose bushes and a stone laid patio, and held only seven apartments that were all big, light and modern. It was a rather expensive place to live, but Randall had received a big inheritance after his late parents on his eighteenth birthday, so he managed well.

He lived alone, and liked it that way; it allowed him to decorate his home the way he wanted, eat what he wanted, and he had the luxury of being able to do as he wanted, _when_ he wanted. If he wanted to eat out, he did. If he wanted to relax on his couch with a movie, he did. If he felt like going to bed early, he did. He was the manager of his own life, and right now, there was nothing he wanted more than to enter this wonderful building of paradise (it had never looked this beautiful before), turn the key, and –

By the time he reached his mailbox, Randall realized that he didn`t have his key. He always kept it in his locker when he was at work, and (obviously) he hadn`t thought about retrieving it before Mike and Sulley had thrown him through that darn door. He growled, and noticed that the well familiar headache was on its way again. For a moment, he actually thought about going back to the factory and pick up the key, but he realized it probably wouldn`t be there. His locker had almost certainly been given to somebody else, why shouldn`t it? He didn`t work there anymore, and - as he had to admit to himself - he was perfectly happy about that.

He used to love his job as a scarer, but he had a strange feeling that the company was a bit different now: He hadn`t taken much time to look around when he came back through Sanderson`s door, be what he _had_ seen was more than enough – it appeared to Randall that the monsters were all working as clowns or something now, and he didn`t even want to _think_ about himself having a job like that. What could possibly be worse than to humiliate yourself every day? Just the idea of it made him feel sick.

No, Randall couldn`t care less about the fact that his locker at Monsters Inc. could possibly be in the possession of somebody else, but as he gave that idea a closer thought, a new fear struck him; what if the same thing had happened to his apartment? What if someone was in there right now, enjoying themselves in _his_ home? Randall closed his fists, as if he was preparing to attack the intruders, but then he managed to calm himself down; the apartment was probably still his.

"I have only been gone for a month. Nobody sells an apartment that fast, it`s still mine, it has to be".

The more he thought about it, the surer he got. Besides, it wasn`t like the place belonged to the police now or anything. With himself believed to be gone for good, the place would probably have been handed over to his sister; and she wasn`t exactly the person to put an apartment up for sale in such a short limit of time. If he knew her right, she probably hadn`t even been over to see it yet.

Now that he was sure nobody else had moved into his apartment, Randall felt a little calmer. But getting himself in there was still a problem; there was no way on earth he would pay a visit to his sister to retrieve the key, and he didn`t want to break a window or anything either. This was tricky. And the growing, irritating headache made it even harder for Randall to think. It was annoying to know that his glasses – his shining knight, his relief from headaches - were practically right there next to him, but that he couldn`t reach them due to a darn door. Once again there was a door between him and his target, and he seriously doubted George Sanderson would come out of this one and leave it open for him.

* * *

However, after a good twenty minutes of thinking – and moaning - he remembered that he had given a copy of his key to the old lady who lived next door to him in the building – just in case. While praising his former self for the brilliant idea, he walked over to the doorbells;

"The only thing lacking now is that she`s dead", he thought to himself as he pushed the button saying "Gladys Lorenzo".

While waiting for her to answer, he looked over at the button right next to it, and was relieved to see that it still said "Randall Boggs".

After a few long seconds of impatient wait, a squeaky voice finally answered through the speaker:

"Yes? Who is it?"

"It`s… Umm…", Randall wasn`t prepared for this, "It`s… Boy scouts, mam..! I`m the leader of a local troop, and… We… We were… Only wondering if you need help with anything in the house..?"

Good God. He wanted to punch himself in the face, there was no way on earth she would buy this crap.

"We`re… Well… Sort of trying to get ourselves a new badge..!" Randall went on, but on the inside he just felt the urge to turn around and leave before Mrs Lorenzo would consider calling the police. This wasn`t going anywhere, he was only fooling himself.

"Oh!", the voice said through the speaker, and to Randall`s big surprise, the old lady sounded very pleased. "Are you saying you`re here to help me? How lovely of you boys! Let me see… There _is_ something, actually – I think… If you would be so kind, I could need a little…" A short pause followed, as if Mrs Lorenzo needed a moment to think. "You know, I think it would be easier if you could all just come on up! It`s easier for me to explain if I can just show you!"

The music of gifted angels wouldn`t have sounded more wonderful to Randall`s ears than the buzzing sound of the door being unlocked. It was solemnly the most beautiful thing he had heard in his entire life, and he felt sixteen pounds lighter as he opened the door and stepped into the hall – well, thirty pounds maybe; sixteen was the amount of weight he had already lost during his month in the shed.

Well inside, Randall quickly headed for the stairs. He lived on the second floor, and he preferred the stairs rather than the elevator. They provided him with a little extra exercise, and (maybe most importantly) in the stairs he could never get stuck with any of his neighbours; one of his least favourite things was being stuck inside the tiny elevator with some of the old monsters living in the building. They were always keen on talking to the "youngster", although Randall was approaching 33, and all they ever talked about was days gone by or their grandchildren. Their talking was often supplemented by them pinching his cheeks or patting his back (or both), telling him what a sweet guy he was.

Although Randall found most of his neighbours annoying, he was happy to live across the hall from Mrs Lorenzo. She was different; when she talked to him, she was interested in _him_ and how _he_ was doing – not in letting him in on the latest gossip about her daughter-in-law or her grandson`s girlfriend`s sister. She was a nice old lady who almost looked like she resembled a prune, she was warm and friendly, and sometimes she even came over with dinner, bread or a cake for him. As a thank you, Randall would normally help her with her groceries every Friday, or with different jobs in her apartment; change of light bulbs and stuff. But Randall, who didn`t want to be known as the sweet guy who was assisting the elderly, had told Mrs Lorenzo not to tell anyone about their arrangement – if she told people, every single senior citizen in Monstropolis would probably contact Randall and start asking him for favours. He didn`t want that. He didn`t want that at all, and Mrs Lorenzo was wise enough to understand; just another reason to like her.

When Randall reached the second floor, he went over to Mrs Lorenzo`s door right away, still camouflaged. He rang her doorbell and then quickly slithered back to the stairs and up in the ceiling, waiting impatiently for her to open the door. He didn`t like the idea of tricking her, but he really had no choice – he couldn`t let anybody know he was back.

As the old lady opened the door, he started calling for her in a voice that was a pitch or two higher than the one he normally used:

"Help! Please help me!"

"Who`s there?" Mrs Lorenzo turned towards him, but couldn`t see anyone – not surprisingly, since she had bad eyesight. The fact that Randall was invisible could also have something to do with it, though.

Randall yelled again: "I fell on my way down the stairs! I can`t move! Please help me!"

As the old lady started moving for the staircase, Randall, still in the ceiling, started crawling towards her door, moving very carefully so that she wouldn`t sense his presence. When he reached the door, he turned and took a look over his shoulder to make sure she was on her way down the stairs, before he quickly entered her home.

* * *

Mrs Lorenzo`s home was warm and cosy, but it was a little too filled up for Randall`s taste; she had little china monsters everywhere, thick rugs covered every single inch of every single floor, she had enough pillows to fill up a hotel, and the walls were all covered in pictures of friends and family – Randall even found one of himself, taken while he was changing the light bulb in her bathroom. He wanted to take it down and burn it, but reminded himself that he had an important job to do.

Randall knew Mrs Lorenzo kept her keys in a drawer in the hall, and opened the first one he saw. No key. He opened a second one. More pictures, no key. He opened a third one. A bottle of bath salt, a newspaper, more pictures (even another one of himself, in this one he was changing the light bulb inside her oven), still no key.

He could feel panic on its way; Mrs Lorenzo could be back any moment, he had to find his key _now_. Fourth drawer - no key. He growled and looked over his shoulder. Fifth drawer – no key. He could feel a drop of sweat running down his forehead. Sixth drawer – keys! Lots of keys..!

"She must be holding the keys to the entire block", he though, looking for the one that would get him back through his own door. He eventually found it in the back of the drawer, with a little pink label saying "Randy B." on it. She had drawn a little heart behind his name, which Randall pretended not to see. He quickly grabbed the key, shut the drawer and hurried back through the front door and into the hallway.

Still no sign of Mrs Lorenzo, luckily; she was probably on the ground floor trying to figure out who had called for help – and what had happened to the boy scouts. Randall felt bad about tricking her, but figured he`d make it up to her on another occasion – maybe he would let her take a picture of him changing another light bulb.

The feeling Randall got when he put his key in his door was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He turned it, got the door open and quickly got in. He carefully closed the door, afraid to make a sound and draw the neighbours` attention, locked it from within and placed the key on a little table in the hall. Then he went through the hall and into his living room, closing all the curtains, before he entered his bedroom.

He looked around, and was pleased to see that everything looked just the way it did when he left it a month ago – he almost cried when he found his glasses on the night stand. Randall closed the curtains in that room as well and turned off the light. Then he could finally collapse on his bed. He was home.

* * *

**Okay, that`s it for now – what do you think? I got the idea of making Randall a well held guy with a nice apartment when I saw **_**Monsters University**_** for the third time – I noticed that his bedcovers and bags had a Louis Vuitton-inspired pattern on them, and thought that he must come from a wealthy Family or something:) Anybody else who noticed? **

**I hope you liked this chapter, I`m working on the next one as we speak - it will have Randall`s sister in it. Rex, Randall`s adorable nephew, is also going to be in this story, but not for a few more chapters. **

**I`m going away this weekend, but I hope to get the next chapter out before I leave on Friday – and if I don`t reach it, I promise I will publish it on Sunday! **

**Have a good day everyone, don`t forget to review now *blinks* **


	3. Chapter 3: A Dreaded Day

**Hi guys!**

**Here`s my new chapter – difficult to write, but I hope the result is good. At least I`m pleased with it myself, and now it`s up for you to decide if you are, too:) **

**As I said, this chapter includes Randall`s sister. She is a character created by me, although she looks very similar to her brother – who is definitely **_**not**_** my creation! **

**I got a question about Rex a couple of days ago, on who he is and whether he`s "real" or not – so I`m going to introduce him briefly to you all: Rex is Randall`s nephew, and he is NOT a fan-made character – he`s real! He makes an appearance in **_**Monsters Inc. Storybook Collection, **_**in a story called **_**Dayscare – **_**were Mike and Sulley have to take care of the children in the company`s day(s)care program. Rex is referred to as **_**Randall`s nephew, Rex**_** twice, and just like his uncle, he can camouflage and disappear – he uses his skills when playing hide-and-sneak, and Mike and Sulley have a hard time finding him.**

**He`s **_**such **_**a cutie; he`s orange and looks like a baby Randall - google him and see for yourselves:) I really hope Pixar will make a third monsters-movie someday and include Rex in it. Meanwhile, at least he`s a part of my story – although not for another few chapters. **

**There is only one scene featuring my protagonist in this chapter, and I`m sorry about that – I tried to squeeze in a second scene with him, but it didn`t fit with the next chapter. I`m sorry – Randall **_**is **_**featured in this chapter, but not much. He comes back stronger in the next one:) Patience! **

**That`s all I have to say in this round, I hope you will enjoy chapter 3! :)**

**Chapter 3: A Dreaded Day**

A gentle wind was blowing through the streets of Monstropolis, and the growing moon was casting its light on the rooftops. It was night-time, and the city was nearly empty – except from a few monsters who were working different night shifts, and one or five shifty-looking guys here and there. The rest of the city`s population were sound asleep in their beds.

In one of the city`s many apartments, there was one citizen who appeared to sleep deeper than the rest; a purple monster resembling a lizard was sleeping heavily underneath his covers, with one of his four arms gripping the sheets loosely in a room that was dark and silent. His head was placed directly on the mattress, even though there were three big pillows right next to it – it appeared that the monster had simply fallen onto his bed while half asleep, and not bothered to lift up his head.

He looked peaceful yet exhausted, laying perfectly still in a curved position - it was as if his body didn`t have the strength to make another move before it was re-charged. The only movement showing was the soft rising and lowering of his breast and the only sound in the room was the sound of him breathing. If anyone had been around to see him, they would probably have said he looked peaceful. Blissful. As if he hadn`t slept in years, and now finally was given the gift of rest.

A gift he would probably never take for granted ever again.

* * *

The day had come. Sulley had been dreading and postponing it for weeks, but now that things had somewhat settled at Monsters Inc., the new CEO had decided it was finally time for him to perform a difficult task; a task he had felt hanging over him like a personal raincloud for way too long.

It was only his second day at work since the factory had re-opened, but Sulley already felt tired; over the last month, he had participated in an endless number of meetings and seminars. He had re-hired most of his old co-workers and then hired Mike as a coach to help them transform from scarers to entertainers. They had spent countless hours practising, and luckily it had been quite a success – the days had all been filled with smiles and laughter. Everybody seemed very pleased, and especially Mike. Sulley`s best friend had been wearing an ear-to-ear grin for days now, and Sulley could often hear him sing to himself – not just in the shower, but _everywhere_; more often than he had ever done before.

Sulley had also given interview after interview with all the newspapers, radio- and TV-stations imaginable. He had been taking leading courses, computer classes, a cooking class (Mike had convinced him that he needed a hobby) and helped transform all the scare-floors into laugh-floors (although _that_ hadn`t been the biggest time stealer, his effort had mainly just been blowing up some balloons).

He had even hired a replacement for Roz, who was (obviously) no longer going to be working undercover for the CDA. The new girl, Terrie, was Terry and Terri Perry`s sister. She looked just like them, except from the fact that there was only one head on her shoulders. She also had hair and two eyes, but she had the same double set of arms as her brothers, as well as a horn on the top of her head and tentacles instead of legs. It was Terri who had recommended her for the job. Terry had been more of a sceptic as usual, but in the end, she had impressed Sulley with an excellent résumé – and so the job was hers.

Yes, Sulley had indeed been busy during the last month – and he had used that as a frequent excuse for postponing the task he didn`t really want to do; but he figured that today had to be the day, he had kept the other part waiting for far too long. Besides, he had to face this sooner or later anyway, and thought it would be better if he could just get it over with.

* * *

By now, Sulley was in his new office, waiting for the monster he had arranged to meet. He felt uncomfortable, and couldn`t figure out where to put his hands; so he picked up a pencil and drummed it towards his desk. Eventually, he almost drew himself insane with the sound he was producing, so he stopped - and grabbed a piece of paper so that he could pretend he was brainstorming for new ideas instead. His sheet remained blank, though.

He thought about getting some coffee, but realized that he probably didn`t have the time; what if his visitor would show up while he was away? For a minute, he actually considered calling Mike up over the speaker system in the factory, but he decided that would make him sound a little _too _desperate – although he really _was _yearning for something to drink. Or eat. Maybe he should get some chocolate?

A sudden knock on the door made him drop his pencil and all the ideas of retrieving a snack. He sat up, and it took a few seconds before he even knew what to say;

"C-come in!" He tried to sound as normal as possible, but his voice came out a little higher than usual.

The handle on the door was turned around, and the door was slowly opened, as if the person on the other side hesitated. In a weird way, that actually made Sulley relax a bit and lower his shoulders – maybe his guest was nervous as well?

After the door had been fully opened, a deep blue monster entered through it, and just as Sulley had guessed from how slowly she had opened the door, she looked a little nervous too. She moved in an insecure manner and didn`t seem to know where to place her eyes.

Her eyes were big and in a deep shade of brown. Then she had two sets of arms and legs, a tail, and the top of her back and tail was a lighter shade of blue than the rest of her body; somewhere it almost resembled light purple. On the top of her head, she had four fronds. She really looked quite similar to her brother.

"Hi!" Sulley said to the girl, regretting it right away – he should have tried to sound more professional, and as he went on, he tried to speak slower and in a more serious tone: "I`m really glad you could make it! Sorry about the mess, I meant to clean up in here, but I never had the time, I`m normally not this untidy, I… I… I`m sorry." So much for being professional.

The female monster only looked at him, still with an insecure look in her eyes.

"I`m sorry", he continued, "Do you want to take a seat?"

The blue monster`s facial expression made Sulley unsure – it was as if she tried to ask him a question with her eyes. And why didn`t she sit herself down?

That was when he realized there was only one chair in the room, and that was his own. Blushing underneath his fur, he hurried out through the office door and grabbed the first chair he could find; then he quickly dragged it with him back into his office, placing it by the desk.

"I`m sorry", he repeated, "Now, do you want to sit down?"

The girl smiled at him before she sat down on the chair. It broke.

* * *

After helping the blue-scaled monster back up at her feet and into the CEO`s chair, Sulley apologised again and threw the broken chair out through the door. As he followed it, he ran into George Sanderson and his assistant:

"Hey Sulley, have you seen a – oh, _there_ it is!"

It took a moment before Sulley realized George was talking about the broken chair.

"I`m going to use it in a gig, children love it when you fall over!" George went on. "Do you want to see my act? I can show you, just wait a second, and I`ll -"

Sulley gave the striped monster a quick smile and a pat on the shoulder as he kindly turned down his offer. Then he turned around and headed back for his office; once he got back inside, he realized that he still hadn`t found his guest a real chair, and so he ran right back out again; only to meet George and his assistant once more.

"Do you have a chair? Not _that_ one." Sulley pointed to the broken chair as he spoke, trying to keep up with his own breath.

After around ten minutes, an embarrassed CEO made it back to his office with a chair found by George`s assistant.

"I`m sorry", was the only thing he could think about saying; "About everything - I`m really sorry. But I think we`re good to go now, Miss Boggs!"

* * *

Sophie Boggs sat in a chair facing Sulley. She was nervous about this meeting. Sulley had first called her up around a month ago, to inform her that her brother had been banished to the human world for various reasons. It hadn`t surprised her. Randall had his share of problems, and she had known for years that he was the kind of person who could suddenly tip over the edge.

During the phone call, Sulley had mentioned that he wanted to meet her to talk things over and explain exactly what had happened when Randall was banished. She had agreed. It would be nice to have somebody to talk to, someone who would listen – after all, she loved her brother even though she had hardly seen him in three years; and of course she was sad when she heard about his terrible faith.

But Sulley never called her back. She understood; he was probably very busy with the re-opening of Monsters Inc. It had to take a lot of effort to change a scare-factory into a laugh-factory, and after all – he was the CEO. She was impressed he even had thought about calling her up in the first place.

Sophie used to work at Monsters Inc, too. Not as a scarer or scaring assistant, but in the company`s mailroom. So when she read in the paper that the factory was going back in business and that all of the former employees could get their jobs back, she had called Sulley up herself, and asked him about it. He said it was okay; all she had to do was show up and fill out the paper work.

The good tone between them on the phone had encouraged Sophie to mention the meeting about Randall as well, just in case Sulley had forgotten it. That had caused Sulley to start coughing; he said he was very busy at the moment, and once again she told him that she understood.

Then another couple of weeks went by, and Sophie began to give up on the whole meeting. But then, a couple of days before her first day back at work, Sulley had called her back. He excused himself for being busy, and said he could meet her to talk about Randall on Wednesday - and now she was here, facing him.

* * *

"As I said… I`m sorry…" Sulley started, "About me being a busy jerk, about the waiting I put you through, the whole package... And about Randall; about your brother. Have you heard about what happened?"

"Only the rumours," Sophie said, "That he helped Mr Waternoose in his plot and kidnapped a human child..?"

"Yeah, that basically it", Sulley admitted. "He helped Mr Waternoose build a machine, kidnapped a little girl, and…"

Sophie held up her hand to interrupt him: "I don`t need all the details about what he did", she said.

Sulley felt sorry for her. As an attempt to comfort her, he continued to talk: "To be honest, I don`t know whether Randall was forced to help Waternoose, or if he did it out of his own choice; I actually… Believe he was talked into it – Waternoose is a very convincing and likeable man".

Sophie looked sad. "You said you wanted to see me", she said, "A month ago, on the phone. Why was that?"

"I just wanted to sort things out", Sulley explained, "You see – I was there. _I_ was the one throwing Randall through the door. He had tried to kill me, but as I said, I don`t know if he did it out of his own choice or… But he _did _really try to kill me. I just wanted to tell you. I`m normally not the kind of person who banish people, but I had to; he wasn`t in his right mind. I know that it`s really the authorities` job to decide who`s supposed to get banished and all that, but if I hadn`t done it – he could have hurt someone".

Sulley felt the feeling of guilt take over his mind; of course he should have talked it over with someone before the whole throw-through-a-door-thing, he had been told so by the authorities afterwards. He could see why; what Randall had done was illegal, sure, but… Who was _he _to take the law in his own hands? It almost made him feel nauseous, and it didn`t help to see Sophie`s face on the opposite side of the desk.

Sophie looked at him, and Sulley noticed that her face was very similar to Randall`s – the only big difference, except from the colours on their scales, were their eyes; Sophie`s were brown and open, while Randall`s were bright emerald green and always squinting.

"Thanks for telling me", Sophie said eventually. "I understand you. My brother was – _is_… difficult. Maybe this was for the better; for _him_, too".

Sulley`s shoulders dropped even further down. He felt relieved that Sophie didn`t carry a grudge.

"Look", he said, lifting a cardboard box up from the floor, "I have some of Randall`s belongings here – we found them when we cleaned out his locker". He handed the box over to Sophie, who studied it closely.

"Can I open it?" she held her hands on its lid, eyes facing Sulley.

"Yeah, of course!" Sulley said, "I guess it belongs to you now, so you can do whatever you want with it."

Sophie opened the box; It held a couple of odorants, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a pair of extra reading glasses, a newspaper, an energy-bar, a book and a folded piece of paper. She was about to unfold it, when Sulley interrupted her: "Oh; and then there was this", he said, handing her a key.

"That`s the key to his apartment", Sophie said, receiving the key from Sulley. She fell quiet for a little while before she spoke again: "How does that work when someone is banished? Is the apartment mine now, or… Someone else`s?"

"I… actually don`t know", Sulley said. "My guess is that it`s yours".

Sophie held the key in her hand, and laid the piece of paper, still folded, back in the box. "I would like to visit the apartment", she said, very low, as if she was talking to herself.

"Okay", Sulley answered her, having nothing better to say.

"Randall was my brother; well, he _is_ my brother, and I think visiting his home would do me good", Sophie continued.

"Okay", Sulley said again.

"I don`t know – I don`t think – I don`t think that I want to go there on my own".

"Okay", Sulley said for the third time, not liking where this was going.

"Mr Sullivan-", Sophie looked directly at him – "would you _please_ come with me to see Randall`s apartment? It would mean a lot to me, since you were the last one to see him before he… _Please_?"

"Okay". Sulley had never felt that stupid before in his entire life.

* * *

The two blue monsters made a deal; they would meet during the lunch-break that same day, eat together in the factory`s cafeteria and then leave work early to go visit Randall`s home together. Sulley didn`t like the fact that he had to leave early on his second day as CEO after the re-opening, but Mike assured him that everything was perfectly alright; _he_ would be more than happy to cover for the boss that afternoon – that _could _have something to do with the fact that another television team was coming over to visit the factory that afternoon, but Sulley accepted Mike`s offer and chose to give him this opportunity to shine.

As Sulley left the factory with Sophie, he could hear Mike sing in the locker room; Sulley wished he could get only a small percentage of his best friend`s good mood; as for himself, he felt straight out terrible. He didn`t feel like going to Randall`s home with Randall`s sister – it felt weird, but he figured he owed it to Sophie; it was really the least he could do after banishing one of her closest family members without permission, keeping her waiting for more than a month and then finally placing her in George Sanderson`s broken chair. Oh yes, this was well deserved – well deserved indeed.

* * *

…**aaaand that`s it! Well? What do you think? About Sulley? Sophie? Sleeping Randall? When I wrote the first scene in this chapter I was dead tired myself, after two nights of very little sleep (I forget about the time because I`m so busy writing this story!), so I chose myself as the inspiration XD **

**I`ve changed this chapter many times, but I`m pleased with the way it looks now – I wanted it to be a bit longer though, but I didn`t want to add scenes just to fill it up either. There will be longer chapters later, I promise. Please be patient:)**

**And as I`ve said before, there **_**is **_**going to be romance further out in the story! As for myself I can`t wait; I want to write about it **_**now, **_**but I have to carefully build it up step by step first… Argh, I want to make Randall happy NOW!**

**I`m going to stop now, I have to make myself some breakfast. It`s early morning here (7AM) and I have to leave for work in like an hour. Please review the chapter and tell me what you think, and make sure you come back to read the next one! My guess is that it`s ready on Monday:) Enjoy your weekend, see ya!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Runner-Up

**Hi again! **

**Look who`s publishing the new chapter one day early! Surprise:D **

**Oh my God, it`s **_**so **_**exciting to check my inbox these days..! An ear-to-ear smile is planted in my face each time I receive a new email with a notification about a review, new follower or fav, it makes me **_**so**_** happy! Thanks! I`m really glad you like my story!**

**Also – good news: I`m sick! I know that`s an odd thing to be happy about, but allow me to explain: I`ve caught a cold, and therefore I haven`t been able go to the gym; and the hours I`ve saved, I`ve used on this story;) Due to that, I actually had this chapter ready on Saturday, but since I`ve spent the weekend on a cabin in the mountains I had to wait until today before I could publish it. BTW I`m much better now, but the cold really did my story good this weekend;) **

**I`m glad you guys liked Sophie. She`s in this chapter too, and she will also appear in the next one. I love how she interacts with Sulley – he`s so afraid of hurting her feelings, and tries his best to watch his words – while she`s always controlled and calm, and apparently unaffected of every mistake he makes.**

**I`m really excited on the response from you guys on today`s chapter; it reveals Randall`s past. I had **_**so**_** much fun figuring out what that was going to be like, and of course I landed on something tragic! I just had to! I hope you will find it plausible and exciting..! **

**Okay, I think that`s all I have to say for now… Now it`s **_**your**_** turn once again – read, enjoy, and meet me at the bottom:)**

**Here`s the fourth chapter, I hope you will like it:**

**Chapter 4: The Runner-Up**

Randall hadn`t had his most productive day ever. He had slept heavily through the entire first night back in his own bed, and hadn`t woken up until noon. At first he had been disoriented – he thought he was still in the shed, and that he had overslept and missed an opportunity to stare at closet doors for hours. But as the truth had reached him – that he was safe and sound back in his own home – he had been able to relax and close his eyes again.

Then he had used the next thirty minutes to wake up properly, before he had finally dragged himself into the living room and onto his sofa; still wrapped up in his bed covers, but with his glasses on – no headache in sight today. He had made himself a cup of tea that was finished on the sofa, under his covers, in front of the TV. At around one thirty, he had gone back to sleep.

* * *

The clock turned three. Randall was fast asleep on the sofa, cuddled up in the covers from his bed; his black-framed glasses were half on, and he still held the remote control in his hand. The TV was on, and at the moment, it was airing a talk-show featuring to middle-aged monsters arguing about their children`s welfare.

Just as the host of the talk-show welcomed the children in question`s grandmother up on the stage, there was a sound coming from the hall outside Randall`s apartment; Randall rolled over, but he didn`t wake up.

Then there was another sound, the sound of a door being unlocked and opened. Randall was still sleeping, face down in the sofa-cushion, body tightly wrapped up in the covers; as if he was on the inside of a cocoon. Then, there was the sound of a door being shut – and that woke Randall up.

Despite him being tired, confused and even more disoriented than he had been a couple of hours ago, he quickly managed to turn off the TV, camouflage and remove his glasses. He realized that he didn`t have the time to put the bed covers back in the bedroom, so he climbed onto the wall and up in a corner in the ceiling instead. He had no idea of who it was that had just entered his home, but he was NOT going to be spotted! He held his breath as he waited for the intruders to enter the living room, trying to figure out what to do when they did.

When Randall saw who the two monsters coming through the door were, he almost forgot that he had to keep himself hidden; he had to hold back both a gasp and a couple of swear words, and his chin dropped down to his chest: What the hell were Sullivan and Sophie doing in his apartment? And why the hell were they here _together_?

After a couple of minutes filled with shock and anger for seeing his sister and rival together in his home, Randall figured out that Sophie had to be there because she was probably the new owner of the place now; it was what he had thought about just yesterday. But what about that big, hairy baboon? Why was _he _here?

* * *

"It`s so dark," Sophie said, carefully placing the cardboard box containing Randall`s possessions from his Monsters Inc. locker on the floor and opening its lid; as if she was going to put its content back in their right places. From the ceiling, Randall could recognize some of his belongings in the box, and felt sick as he pictured Sullivan and Sophie, maybe even Wasowski, going through his personal stuff and placing them in there.

"Do you mind opening the curtains, Mr Sullivan?" Sophie continued, as she let go of the box and pointed to the windows.

"Look Sophie, I told you – it`s _Sulley"_. The hairy monster went over to one of the windows and gently removed the curtains, allowing the sunlight to enter the room; Randall felt as if he was blinded by the sudden change of light-setting. Also, the light shone on all the dust that had been gathered up in the apartment over the last month, and that made Randall feel even worse than before – he hated it when his home was messy.

"Did he use to sleep on his couch?" Sulley nodded towards the bed sheets on the sofa. Randall hated the fact that Sullivan was here to see his home in this state; he didn`t want him here no matter what his apartment looked like, but when it looked like this it felt _extra _humiliating.

"I don`t think so", Sophie answered, "he was – _is_ – a very tidy guy. It`s not like him to leave his place like this".

"Well, like I`ve said before: he probably wasn`t in his right mind at the end – this proves it". Sulley`s words came out slowly, as if he hesitated. Randall rolled his eyes, and then a long period of silence fell between Sophie and Sulley, and Randall was afraid they`d hear him breathe.

"I`m sorry". Sophie`s sudden words came as a surprise on both Randall and Sulley, and Sulley`s answer to them was exactly what Randall had in mind, too:

"What?"

"On behalf of my brother. I`m sorry".

Sulley didn`t know how to answer to that, so he just nodded his head. Randall felt like throwing up.

"Randall wasn`t really a bad person", Sophie didn`t look directly at Sulley, "but he had his issues. I know this will probably sound weird, but – please don`t hate him".

A new pause. Randall had to keep himself from strangling his sister.

"I don`t hate him". Sulley didn`t know if he just said so to comfort Sophie, but there was a bit of truth to it. He hadn`t exactly been best friends with Randall, but he had never thought that he hated him. In an attempt to change the subject, he asked Sophie a question: "So… What are you planning on doing with the apartment? Do you want to put it out for sale?"

Randall sharpened his ears – he was excited about the answer to this one.

"I don`t think I want to sell it", Sophie said after a moment of though, "I can rent it out, and then maybe Rex can live here when he grows up."

"Who`s Rex?" Sulley didn`t mean to ask her another question right away, but this one simply dropped out of his mouth.

"He`s my son", Sophie explained, and Sulley noticed how her whole face lit up as soon as she mentioned her boy. "He turns four in August; you know what, he actually had his first day in dayscare at Monsters Inc. yesterday, when I went back to work. He seemed very pleased!"

"You have a son?" Sulley was surprised. "I didn`t even know you were married!"

"I`m not." Sophie smiled at him as she moved Randall`s bed-covers over and sat herself down on the sofa. She patted her hand on the spot right next to her as an invitation for Sulley to sit, too. He sat down, and Randall noticed how he leaned on the pillow from his bed; that caused him to feel the nausea coming his way again.

"And I never was, either", Sophie continued; "Rex`s father and I spent some time together, but we never talked about making things serious. But then Rex came along, and things suddenly got serious anyway. His father and I tried to make it work for Rex`s sake, but we were too different, and therefore we split up when Rex was a baby. He`s completely out of the picture now, Rex doesn`t even know him".

"I`m sorry"; Sulley was clearly uncomfortable, and tried not to look at Sophie. His eyes landed on the place in the ceiling where Randall was hiding, and the purple lizard held his breath.

"Don`t be, it`s alright." Sophie`s voice made Sulley calm down, and he dared to face her again. That caused Randall to relax a bit, too – at least he dared to breathe again. He was hoping that this conversation was over by now, but no way; things were just getting started.

* * *

"Wow," Sulley continued, eager to learn more about Sophie and Rex – and Randall; "A son, eh? Randall never told anyone he had a nephew!"

"He never cared about him", Sophie said, "In fact, I think he saw him more as a rival."

"A rival?" Sulley could hardly believe the words he was hearing; "How can a grown monster possibly see a little boy as his rival?"

"Please don`t judge him". Sophie was still speaking in the same, calm voice that made Sulley feel so good; "Randall has been through a lot, it hasn`t been easy for him. And I didn`t say that he hates Rex or anything, he`s just… just not uncle-material."

Sulley was startled. What kind of a person _was_ Randall? Who was he to view his own, three-year-old nephew as a rival and not care about him? Was he completely heart-less?

Sophie, as if she was able to read Sulley`s mind, continued:

"I`m a lot older than Randall. Ten years, to be precise. When he was born, I had been dreaming about getting a brother or sister all my life, and I was thrilled to finally get one. And he was _such_ a cute baby!"

Randall, still camouflaged in the ceiling, wanted to punch something.

Sophie went on: "I took my role as a big sister very seriously. I helped my parents take care of Randall, played with him and read him stories. If he was picked on, I stood up for him. We shared secrets, and developed a wonderful relationship."

"So what happened?" Sulley couldn`t control his curiosity any longer, and chose to give in to his questions.

"When Randall was eight," Sophie continued, "he went with mum and dad to visit our grandparents over the weekend. I stayed at home. I was eighteen, I would rather stay with my friends; you know what teenagers are like…"

Sulley just nodded, remembering himself as an eighteen-year old.

"Well," Sophie`s face gained a more serious look, "they were supposed to get home on Sunday night. That never happened. It was late in the autumn, and the roads were icy. When they drove through a turn, the car lost its grip - and they drove off the road."

Sulley sat completely still, eyes wide, as he listened. Randall was looking in another direction.

"Our parents died at the scene," Sophie spoke slowly, as if she re-lived everything, "and Randall was badly injured. He was hospitalized for more than a month. I was there to see him every day. They… They said his chances were small. They thought he wouldn`t make it. But he`s a fighter, he`s always been…"

Sulley fell silent. He never would have guessed. Randall… A little boy, seriously injured, orphan… This was just tragic. If only he had known before…

Randall was still watching the scene, and he hated the compassionate, soft look on Sulley`s face more than anything else in the world at that moment – the last thing he wanted was pity, especially from his rival.

After a short break, Sophie continued the Boggs` family story:

"When Randall got out of hospital, I was given custody of him. I was only eighteen at the moment, remember, and, well, things weren`t going very well to start with."

"I thought you said that you and Randall had a good relationship?" Sulley asked.

"We did, but Randall changed after the accident", Sophie explained. "He became silent and anxious; he fell behind in school, and lost most of his friends. He cried himself to sleep almost every night, but he never allowed me to comfort him or even talk to him about it, he just wanted mum and dad back. I didn`t know what to do for him, I just felt so helpless – at one point he even said that he wished he had died in the accident, too. Can you imagine hearing something like that from an eight-year-old?"

Randall hung his head – now he was wishing that _Sophie _had died in the accident. Listening to this was pure torture.

"What happened further?" Sulley found himself to be genuinely interested in the rest of Sophie`s story – he didn`t even think his questions over; he just wanted answers.

"It got better", Sophie smiled again for the first time in what had felt like hours; "There was this one night, five or six months after the accident, when there was a thunder-storm and a black-out in the city. It was in the middle of the night, and I was actually sleeping despite the terrible noise, when Randall suddenly woke me up. He had entered my bedroom, and was crying his eyes out; he`s always been afraid of thunder".

Randall rolled his eyes. He was _not _afraid of thunder…

"When mum and dad were still alive, they used to cradle and comfort him when he was scared, but this time they weren`t around to do so. So like I said, he came to me instead, scared to death. So I lifted him up in my bed, tucked him in with me and allowed him to stay there for the night". By now, Sophie`s eyes had gotten somewhat the same glow they`d have when she had first mentioned Rex to Sulley. She went on:

"When I woke up the next morning, Randall was still asleep; two of his hands were holding on to me, and the look on his face was so incredibly peaceful, I`ve never seen anything like it. He even slept for another couple of hours; it was as if he slept off all of the bad feelings that night. And I just lay there right next to him, silently watching, afraid to disturb him. When he finally woke up, we made ourselves some breakfast, and then we just stayed inside the entire day, listening to the rain on the windows: we read, talked, played board games; all the time with lit candles all around us. It was wonderful."

"So then… Everything went back to normal?" Sulley didn`t understand. This didn`t make sense. How could the sweet little Randall who slept in his big sister`s bed _possibly_ have ended up being the ruthless bastard who`d been chasing him around the factory a month ago?

"Not entirely", Sophie admitted. "Randall still didn`t socialize very well, and he became extremely dependent on me – he was silent and shy, and afraid to bond with other monsters; I guess he was scared he would lose them again".

"Maybe he still is", Sulley thought to himself; he had never seen Randall with any friends.

Sophie continued her story: "I tried to arrange play-dates for him, but he always wanted me to go with him; so then he became the wimpy child nobody wanted to play with because he always brought his sister along. It stayed that way through elementary school, and he didn`t get more popular as he grew older. He was so lonely, and it was truly painful for me to watch – he was such a sweet guy, and all he wanted was friends, but his shyness and fear of bonding always got in his way. Nobody ever fully got to know him".

Randall wanted to sneak out of the living room, this conversation made him feel sick. However, he was still in the corner, surrounded by two monsters he hated, and if he`d try to get out, his sister or that big, hairy clown would probably hear him. He couldn`t even use his hands to cover his ears – he needed all four of them to hold on to the ceiling. All he could do was pray for this nightmare to be over soon.

"That sounds like the Randall I met in college", Sulley said eventually, as if he needed to confirm Sophie`s last utterance.

"He changed drastically in college", Sophie followed up. "Before he went there, all he talked about was how much he wanted it to be a new start. Nobody there knew his past. He would finally get friends; go to parties – do all of those things normal teenagers take for granted. And when he came home for Christmas, he told me that he`d been accepted into an exclusive fraternity. However, he didn`t want to talk much about it – I have a feeling the people he hung out with were bad influence on him".

Sulley could have told her that himself.

"When he went back for the spring semester", Sophie continued, "he was eager to participate in the annual scare games. He went on and on about how he would be the school`s top scarer and help his team bring home the trophy. But we all know how that went, don`t we?"

Sophie looked at Sulley, who turned red under his fur.

"That`s right", she said, "his team became the runner-ups, and he made a fool of himself; I`ve been told that he tried to do a scare when his skin was covered in pink hearts he got from a fall caused by… well… _you". _Sulley looked down as Sophie continued:

"He was devastated, and when I heard he got kicked out of his fraternity, I seriously started to worry about him. However, he never talked about quitting school. He just became even more eager to become the greatest scarer ever. And he graduated with good results, but not the best; still the runner-up".

Sulley started to see a pattern.

"Then he got the dream job at Monsters Inc., and he was more determined than ever before to become the best. However, he became the runner-up again; to _you_ this time".

"U-hum", Sulley said. It was all he could think about saying except for another apology, and he felt he had used that card a couple of times too many today already.

Randall had a headache. It filled his entire head, and tried to push everything else out; maybe that was why he had to hold back a tear. It made him feel so angry.

"So that`s Randall", Sophie sounded as if she was about to reach a conclusion, "always the runner-up, never the best".

Sulley just looked at her. Randall wanted to scream.

* * *

A moment of silence followed. To Randall, it seemed to last forever. When Sulley finally spoke again, it was as if an hour had passed:

"But what about that whole nephew-rival thing?" Sulley still couldn`t see how Randall could possibly dislike his own nephew.

"Before I got Rex", Sophie spoke slowly, "Randall was the only family I had left. He was number one to me. But when I had my son, _he_ became my new obvious number one. He needed me more than anyone, even Randall. So I think… That Randall dislikes Rex because he sees him as the person who made him the runner-up again; Rex made Randall the second one in line to my heart."

Randall had never seen a face express more sympathy than Sullivan`s did at that moment. He hated it. He hated it just as much as he hated his sister.

* * *

More than an hour had passed since Sulley and Sophie had left Randall`s apartment. Their words were still ringing in Randall`s ears, and he felt straight out terrible; he tried his best not to think about the things that had been said between the two, but he could not escape it. And he didn`t even know what the worst part was – that he had just been reminded of every single part of his miserable life, or that his sister had shared his entire life story with Sullivan. Inside his mind, he could still picture the stupid look in Sullivan`s eyes when Sophie told him the story, and he hated it – just the idea of Sullivan feeling sorry for him made him feel nauseous again.

The headache was on its way once more, and Randall was back on the sofa, under his covers. He didn`t feel like eating; he probably didn`t have any fresh food in the house anyway. He wondered how he was going to do his groceries now that he had to stay hidden, but decided to think it over tomorrow - he was too depressed and tired right now, and all he really wanted to do was relax. He turned the TV back on, and as a sit-com rolled over the screen, he went back to sleep.

**Puh..! There`s a lot to take in here! **

**Poor Randall, look at the past I`ve given him..! And poor Sophie, it hasn`t been easy on her, either. **

**I hope you liked the chapter – and Randall`s history. Please tell me what you think, I really appreciate your opinions! So don`t hesitate to leave a review:) **

**I`m sure some of you were disappointed that Sulley and Sophie didn`t see Randall when they visited his home. I`m sorry about that;) Sulley **_**will**_** run into Randall very soon, and they **_**will **_**eventually grow a little closer *blinks* I can`t wait for that to happen, either!**

**That`s it for now – I`m currently working on the next chapter alongside with my fulltime job and my other hobbies, and I think I will be able to publish it on Wednesday or Thursday! I hope all of you will be back to read it:)**

**Have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5: Revealed

**Hey guys!**

**Check this out, I`m posting my new chapter one day early **_**again**_**! Whooo! I got some extra time to write on Monday, and I basically had the entire chapter in my head as I started; Therefore, all I really had to do was put it all down on paper:) **

**Once again, thank you **_**so**_** much for all of your kind reviews! I`m so glad you liked the previous chapter, as I was really nervous on your response to Randall`s past! The sadness-level was intentional – I wanted Randall to have a tragic past, but I never would have guessed that I almost made one of you cry! I`m sorry! But I **_**do**_** appreciate you`re **_**that**_** into my story, though! Thanks *hugs* **

**I also appreciate the fact that some of you are offering me ideas! That`s great! I **_**am**_** taking them into consideration:) I had to smile when I got a review suggesting I should put a second thunderstorm in my story, where Sulley can comfort Randall; I have had another thunderstorm planned for weeks;) But I`m not telling you what`s going to happen while it lasts..! You will have to wait;) But once again, thank you so much for your good ideas! Keep èm coming!**

**So, about the new chapter… It`s my longest one yet, and at one point, I considered splitting it in two; but I chose not to do so, and hope you don`t mind – I hope you`re in the mood for a longer read today:D **

**Oh, and I should mention: chapter five features both a person and an event I know some of you have been waiting for;) I hope it will live up to your expectations!**

**I think that`s all I have to say for now… I really hope you will enjoy the new chapter! **

**Chapter 5: Revealed **

As he was walking away from Randall`s apartment alongside with Sophie, Sulley felt even worse than he had done when he had first gotten there; Sophie and Randall`s history had really upset him, and he felt so sorry for the two siblings – although he had a hard time figuring out which of them he pitied the most.

"What are you thinking of?"

Sophie`s question drew Sulley back to reality; he noticed that they were approaching the city centre. In around ten minutes they would be back at the factory, where they were going to pick up Sophie`s son, Rex.

"What you told me in your brother`s apartment". Sulley had his eyes fastened on the sidewalk as he spoke – he didn`t feel like looking at Sophie at the moment. "I really don`t know what to say; I`m so sorry for you – for both of you".

"Thank you". Sophie turned her head to the left and looked at him; "But there`s no need to feel sorry for _me_; I get along fine. I have an amazing little boy – the best one in the world actually, good friends, a safe job and a well-established economy – I`m lucky. But I _do_ feel sorry for my brother and the way his life turned out; and if you have to feel sorry for someone, you can be sorry for him, too – but please keep in mind not to blame yourself -"

She suddenly stopped walking and placed one of her hands on Sulley`s right arm (as she was too low to reach his shoulder) before she continued: "I _don`t_ judge you for banishing him, and it wasn`t _your_ fault he tipped over".

Her words finally caused Sulley to dare lifting his head and look into her eyes; they had such a soothing effect on him, and he was so thankful that she didn`t blame him for anything involving Randall – her little brother. He still didn`t know what to say, so he chose to let his actions talk instead; he carefully embraced her and gave her a long, warm hug.

* * *

After about a minute of hugging and ten minutes of walking, the two blue monsters eventually approached the location of their jobs. A lot of monsters where already on their way home, and nor Sulley or Sophie intended to stay for very long; they were just going to pick up Rex (Sulley had offered Sophie to come with her as he really wanted to meet her son), and then they were going back to their own homes.

The company dayscare was located on the ground floor at the backside of the massive building. It consisted of an art-room, a play-room, a music-room, a kitchen, a nap-room, a bathroom, a wardrobe and then finally a little garden with a fence around it. Everything looked very appealing and welcoming, and all the rooms were painted in bright, happy colours – the CEO, Sulley, was proud that his company had something this nice to offer his employees` children.

Sulley and Sophie made it to the dayscare`s wardrobe, and once they got in Sulley noticed that there was only one backpack left there – Rex was the last child to be picked up today. Sulley`s eyes wandered on to the big clock hanging on the wall, and to his embarrassment he saw that it was ten past five; they were ten minutes late. Sophie was looking in the same direction:

"I`m glad _you`re _with me now", she said with a teasing grin that caused her eyes to narrow (which suddenly made her face very similar to Randall`s), "the staff won`t dare to yell at me in the presence of the CEO..!"

Sulley let out a light-hearted laugh, when suddenly one of the dayscare-teachers entered the wardrobe to greet them.

"Sorry we`re late", Sulley started, trying to pin it on himself, "It was my fault. I had arranged to meet Sophie today, and then we had to run an errand, and -"

He was interrupted by a loud, jolly cry:

"Muuuuuuum!"

Sulley peeked over the dayscare-teacher`s shoulder, and a tiny, orange monster caught his eyes; he was running their way as fast as he could, with a big smile on his face. He had four arms, four legs and a tail, and despite the fact that he had only one frond on the top of his head, there was no doubt that he resembled his mother and his uncle. But what amazed Sulley the most about the little guy were his eyes; they were in the colour of bright emerald green, and it was just like seeing Randall`s - except Rex`s weren`t squinting.

"Rex, honey!" As Rex made it into the wardrobe, Sophie bent over and greeted her boy with a big, loving hug; "How`s your day been, sweetie? Did you have fun?"

"Uh-huh", Rex nodded, grinned and showed his mother something he had kept behind his back: "A made a pictua!" He unfolded a piece of paper and revealed a painting; well – he revealed puddles of paint randomly placed on a white sheet. "Look mum, is _you_!"

Sulley tried his best, but couldn`t quite see how the so-called picture resembled Sophie in _any_ way imaginable; However, he had to smile when he saw Rex`s big grin – the boy was obviously very proud of his effort, and, apparently, so was his mum – she kissed her son as she took hold of the picture, and promised him that it was going "on the fridge" that same day.

Just then, Rex noticed that his mother had brought someone else along to pick him up; he looked at Sulley for a moment, with an alarmingly insecure expression on his face, before he hid his face behind Sophie`s back. She patted him on the head and stroked his frond as she explained who the stranger was:

"Rex, this is Mister Sullivan! He`s mum`s friend, and he really wanted to meet you..! Won`t you say hello?"

Rex showed no sign of saying anything. He clung to his mother with all four of his hands and closed his eyes tightly, before he suddenly seemed to disappear in thin air – Sulley giggled; this was Randall`s nephew, alright.

"Rex?" Sophie was clearly used to her son disappearing, as she showed no sign of freaking out, "This is not very polite..! Now, re-appear immediately and say hello to Mister Sullivan!"

No response.

Sulley felt like saying something, although he wasn`t sure of what; he wasn`t that good with children, and hadn`t really been talking to a child since he sent Boo back through her door a month ago.

"Hello, Rex!" he said eventually, revealing a bit of insecurity in his voice; "I`m happy to meet you; your mother told me so much about you! I`m Mister Sullivan, but my friends call me Sulley – you can call me that too, if you want..!"

No response.

Sophie was about to talk to her son again, until she noticed that the dayscare-teacher looked a little impatient; so all she did was apologise and say goodbye, lift up her invisible son and carry him out through the door – Sulley followed with the backpack, and he too apologised to the staff; he was wondering how many times he had said he was sorry for something that day.

* * *

The trio walked through the factory together, and Sophie was still carrying Rex. He was still invisible, but Sulley noticed that parts of his body showed up every once in a while – his camouflaging skills clearly lacked training, although he was very talented for his age.

As they reached the mailroom, Sophie stopped and bent over; Sulley guessed that she was putting Rex down.

"Okay Rex", she started, "now we are going home and make some dinner. But first, I want you to say goodbye to Mister Sullivan – I`m sorry - _Sulley_".

No response.

"Rex, I`m serious; Do I have to get angry now? Look, I`m going to give you to the count of three; one… two…"

Sulley placed a hand on her back: "Look Sophie, it`s okay! I know I can look intimidating to a little child, he doesn`t have to talk to me if he doesn`t feel like it. I`m sure I`ll get to see him again on another occasion".

Sophie smiled up at him; "Thanks, Sulley; for everything. I must admit, I was not looking forward to this day, but it turned out better than I could have hoped for! Thank you!"

She hugged him, and he hugged her back - patting her back to make her feel better. As they embraced, Rex clearly thought it was time for him to say hello to Sulley:

"Hello!" He suddenly re-appeared as he jumped high up in the air – the little guy really had good physics.

Both of the adults turned around to look at him, and Rex obviously enjoyed the new-won attention; he was putting up an improvised dance-show, and Sulley couldn`t help but laugh.

"So _there_ you are!" He smiled at the little monster, who answered him with a big grin;

"Hello!" Rex said again, waving to Sulley as he continued to jump up and down and dance randomly; "Wanna see wha I can do?"

He didn`t seem to have the time to wait for Sulley to answer, but started showing off right away – it wasn`t every day he had a new audience;

The little boy climbed onto the way using all of his arms and legs, and climbed higher up until he was as at the same level as Sophie`s head – then he carefully let go of his arms, so that he ended up hanging from the wall by his legs.

"Be careful, honey". Sophie`s look expressed a little concern, but she had nothing to worry about; her son knew what he was doing.

Rex, very concentrated, climbed down again, using only his four legs, and got himself safely back on the ground, while looking at his audience with anticipation. Sulley applauded him:

"Yay! That`s very good! Thanks for showing me, Rex!"

"That`s good Rex", Sophie agreed, "but now we _really_ have to go; we`re going home to make dinner!"

"Bye Rex! Nice to meet you!" Sulley waved at the orange monster.

"Bye Ulley!" Rex waved back at him with three arms – he probably would have used the fourth one too, if is mother hadn`t grabbed hold at it to lead him out of the factory and home.

* * *

Sulley smiled to himself as he walked towards the counter at his local supermarket – despite the grief he had felt after hearing Sophie and Randall`s sad history, his day had actually been really good; meeting Sophie had been nice, and meeting Rex had been incredible – what a funny little guy!

The thought of Rex suddenly made Sulley feel a little down again; Randall couldn`t possibly have known what he was missing; Imagine having a nephew _that _sweet and full of life, only to choose not to care about him! Sulley was torn between his own feelings; a part of him was angry at Randall for neglecting Rex, while the other part felt sorry for him – an inferiority complex of that size couldn`t be easy for anyone.

Sulley started loading his groceries up on the counter; he was going to make dessert tonight, and had to buy some ingredients for it. Mike had told him that he wanted to cook his famous slime-burgers to celebrate the re-opening of Monsters Inc., and then Sulley had offered to fix them a sweet treat to complete the meal. The two friends had been very busy over the past weeks, and Sulley felt that he hadn`t spent an evening with his best friend for ages. He missed goofing around with Mike, listening to his funny stories, and he had high hopes for tonight – slime-burgers and a movie sounded pretty good after weeks of work.

"That will be twenty nine ninety five". The teenager behind the counter spoke with a voice that changed from low to high pitch as he spoke.

"Alright." Sulley reached for his wallet, but he couldn`t find it; typical, he had probably left it at work…

"I`m sorry", he started, still wondering how many times he had apologised to someone that day, "but I seem to have misplaced my wallet. Can you please keep these stored for me while I go back to work and get it?" He pointed to the groceries, and the teenager nodded his head.

"Sure". His voice cracked again, and Sulley thanked him as he left the store and headed back to the factory. It wasn`t the first time he had left his wallet there after closing hours.

* * *

Sulley opened the top drawer of his desk for the fourth time; still no wallet. He had been searching through his entire office two or three times, but there were no signs of it anywhere. This was weird; where else could he have left it? He hadn`t even used it today.

He sat down in his chair, thinking back through his day – and that was when he realized: he had placed his wallet on a table in the hall at Randall`s apartment as he had entered with Sophie, and he didn`t have any memories of picking it up again when they left. That`s where it had to be!

It was already past six, but Sulley decided he needed his wallet; he had to pay for his groceries, as he really was in the mood for dessert tonight. Just as he started walking through his office door to head over for Randall`s apartment for the second time that day, he remembered that Sophie had the key now. That meant he had to pay _her _a visit first; clearly he was in for a longer night than he had planned.

He looked up Sophie`s address in the phonebook in his office, and called a cab to take him there – Sophie lived in the suburbs outside of Monstropolis, and if he had to walk there, he probably wouldn`t be home until midnight.

* * *

It was getting dark as the taxi stopped in the driveway outside a pale blue wooden house with a lawn a pick-yard fence. Sulley told the cabdriver to wait; his errand would only take a couple of minutes, and he had another place to go to straight afterwards. He wasn`t keen on wasting any more time right now; he was getting hungry, and wanted to go home to Mike and his slime-burgers as soon as possible.

He went over the lawn leading up to Sophie`s house, and noticed that although the property was well-held and nice, it wasn`t exactly as tidy as Randall`s; there were toys on the patio and on the area around the door, and on the lawn there was a little playhouse with a slide, surrounded by more toys, and a blow-up pool that looked as if it had been broken for a while. He smiled as he rang the doorbell.

Rex opened the door; his face was covered in jam, his hands looked sticky, and his little face lit up when he saw Sulley:

"Guess what a ate!"

Sulley had a hard time figuring out what the little monster was saying, but if he was to judge from the way he looked, he guessed it had something to do with what he had been eating for dinner – and the jam made him guess for pancakes.

"Did you eat pancakes for dinner, Rex?" Sulley smiled down at him, and Rex`s responding grin exposed all of his teeth:

"Yeah! Wanna hea how faw a can count? One, two, thwee, fouw –" Rex was interrupted by his mother, who had entered the hall;

"Sulley! Hi! That`s a pleasant surprise, how can I help you?"

"Sorry to disturb you, but I think I left my wallet in Randall`s apartment – do you think I can borrow the key and go get it? I`ll return it to you at work tomorrow." Sulley felt something pulling his fur as he spoke and looked down, only to see Rex cling to his leg:

"Ulley, wanna see ma woom?"

Sulley couldn`t figure out what that meant either, but luckily Sophie came to his rescue:

"Rex, I think Sulley is in a hurry. I`m sure he wants to see your room another time!"

She picked Rex up, which was harder than she had guessed for as he wouldn`t let go of the blue monster`s leg, and then she faced Sulley again:

"Sure Sulley, I`ll get you the key – and when it comes to _you_ Rex, you`re up for a trip to the bathtub; you`re all sticky!"

She went over to a little cabinet on the wall, found the right key and handed it over to Sulley. "Here you are! And once again, thanks for going with me today! I`m sorry, I would have gone over there with you now, but I have something to deal with right here…" She had a hard time holding her son, who wasn`t exactly being still.

"That`s okay," Sulley said, "I`m sure I`ll get by on my own! I think I know where in the apartment I left the wallet, it will probably take just a couple of minutes – I`ll have to go now, I have a cab waiting. Thanks, Sophie!"

He turned around to leave, but stopped when he heard Rex`s calling:

"Hug!"

* * *

Rex`s face had blue hairs all over it after hugging Sulley, as pieces of his fur had gotten stuck in the jam; and Sulley felt sticky as he headed back for the cab and got in.

"Sorry for the wait", he told the driver.

"That`s fine, I`m not paying".

Sulley eagerly hoped that he wasn`t wrong about his wallet`s location as he gave Randall`s address to the driver and the cab started to move. If he _was_ wrong, then he was probably up for an expensive night.

* * *

After a good fifthteen minutes' drive, Sulley got out of the cab outside of the building that held Randall`s apartment. Once again he told the driver to wait, as his errand would only take around five minutes:

"Once again, fine; I`m still not the one who`s paying" was the answer he got.

Sulley quickly headed for the front door, unlocked it and got in. Once inside, he had to choose between the elevator and the stairs, and with an excuse saying it was too late in the evening for exercise, he headed for the elevator and hushed inside.

Just as he had pushed the button to the second floor, someone called out to him:

"Hold the elevator! I`m going up, too!"

He pushed the stop-button and opened the doors, allowing an old lady to enter.

"Thank you so much, young man. It takes so long to wait for it to come back down again; and when you`re _my _age, you can`t afford to waste any time waiting for an elevator to reach the ground floor".

Sulley chuckled to himself. He loved monsters with a sense of humour, especially if they were able to joke about themselves.

"Which floor?" he asked the other.

"The second one, please".

"Same as me, then". Sulley pushed the button, and the doors closed.

To begin with, there was silence between the two monsters in the elevator. Sulley was fine with that; he enjoyed talking to different monsters, but he didn`t always have to – sometimes silence was preferred. But then suddenly, the elderly lady asked him a question:

"I`ve never seen you here before, young man. Are you here to visit someone?"

"No, not exactly", Sulley admitted. "It`s a little hard to explain".

"Try me".

"Well, I`m only here to pick up my wallet".

"That`s not hard to explain".

"No, but… I left it in this apartment… The owner is gone. He was banished. I was there this afternoon to look at it with his sister".

"I know all the people living in this building – who`s apartment is it?"

"His name is Boggs".

"Randy?!" The old lady suddenly looked startled, and stared at Sulley; "Randy`s been _banished_?! What, why?"

"I`m afraid that`s confidential, mam". Sulley wasn`t entirely sure if it was, but he didn`t feel like sharing the story with a stranger he`d just met in an elevator – he was just eager to get out of there and head home to Mike`s dinner.

"But there must be a mistake! Randy Boggs is my neighbour, and he`s always been such a sweet boy! What can he possibly have done that deserves to be punished with banishment? Oh dear… I haven't seen him a while, but I assumed he was away on a holiday or something, oh my dear -"

The doors in the elevator opened before the old lady had finished her sentence, and she stepped outside and onto the hallway with Sulley. The blue monster felt bad for upsetting Randall`s neighbour, and thought he should say something:

"Look, Mrs..?"

"Lorenzo. Gladys Lorenzo".

"Mrs Lorenzo, I`m really sorry about Randall, but I can`t tell you the reason for his banishment. I`m sorry"; once again, Sulley had apologised – he was probably the new record-holder in how many times one could possibly do that in one single day.

Mrs Lorenzo went down the hall towards her own and Randall`s apartment-doors alongside with Sulley, and she talked all the way:

"Poor Randy, that precious boy, wonder how he is, poor, _poor_ Randy, I`ve never heard anything like this my entire life, how _could_ they -"

"Were you… Were you close to Randall?" Sulley felt he had to say something – anything, if only to make her stop.

"Well… No, not close, but we were friends; he helped me with different things around the house, helped me do my groceries; oh, and I cooked for him from time to time – bread, dinner, cakes, things like that. Sometimes I had him over for tea. Oh dear -" she had to dry a tear.

Sulley didn`t know how to respond to anything of what he had just been told. Randall helped his neighbour do her groceries? He went over for tea? The picture of Randall sitting in a sofa with this lady and a cup of earl grey almost made him laugh – he never would have guessed. He had learned more about Randall over the last few hours than he had done for as long as he had known the guy, and he hadn`t even been talking with him today.

"Look Mrs Lorenzo, I can see you`re upset, but I`m afraid there`s nothing I can do about Randall`s case at the moment. Now, is there anything else I can do for you before I go get my wallet and head home?"

"Well… Maybe… There`s this light bulb in my living room..!"

* * *

After around ten minutes, Sulley walked out of Mrs Lorenzo`s apartment; he had changed her light bulb, had his picture taken and been given a cookie – that was surprisingly tasty. No wonder Randall allowed this woman to cook for him.

As he nibbled to the cookie, Sulley put his key in Randall`s door and turned it around; he opened the door slowly and smiled as he saw his wallet on the table right next to it. Perfect. He entered the hall and took hold of it, shaking his head over his own bad memory.

Just as he turned around to leave again, a sound from the living room caught his attention; it almost sounded like a voice? The blue monster went closer to the living room door, and the sound grew stronger. Yes, it was a voice – someone was talking in there.

Sulley got frightened; was there someone in there? It sure couldn`t be Sophie, but who else could have the key to Randall`s place? Sulley went even closer to the door, and let out a relieved sigh as he recognized the voice that was talking: it was a reporter from the local news – it had to be the TV.

However, he couldn`t remember Sophie putting the TV on earlier that day, and he certainly hadn`t done it himself; this was weird.

He decided that no matter how it had happened, the best thing would be to turn it off - and so he entered the living room. In there, everything was dark, and the curtains were drawn – hadn`t he opened them himself this afternoon? And there was the TV, showing the news. Sulley frowned in confusion – he didn`t understand.

The news showed a report from Monsters Inc., probably recorded that same afternoon, with a proud Mike telling the reporter how good things were going at the factory. Sulley smiled to himself as he pressed the off-button; now there was no way he would get Mike to stop talking tonight.

Sulley turned around to leave again, when he suddenly stopped – and stood perfectly still for a long time. His eyes widened and his mouth hung open as if he was in a state of shock;

The room was dark, but there was enough light for Sulley to notice that Randall`s bedcovers were still on the couch – but they weren`t the only things there; Sulley saw a foot – and it had just _moved._

He hesitated, but decided to move closer. He tiptoed over to the table, and tried to get a closer look at whoever it was that was laying on the couch;

Deep inside, he already knew; but when he got up close, he almost fell backwards when he realized his gut-feeling was right.

The monster on the couch was the same one he had been thinking of all day. It was the same one he had thrown through a door a month ago. It was the same one who had chased him around Monsters Inc. and tried to kill him.

But now, that same monster was laying right there in front of him, sleeping heavily with a peaceful look on his face:

_Randall_.

**Well, that`s it for now..! Rex has entered the building, and Sulley finally knows that Randall is back! I know some of you have been waiting for both, and I hope I didn`t let you down:) **

**So what do you think of Rex? I work with children daily, and borrowed some inspiration from some of them while portraying him – I`m pleased with the result, and I hope you are, too. Rex will appear further out in the story as well:) **

**And now that Sulley knows Randall is back in Monstropolis, I hope all of you are excited for the future chapters! Like I`ve said, the two will grow a little closer eventually (or a lot, maybe..!), but that will take time, as I don`t want to rush things. Staying true to the characters is important to me, and Sulley and Randall are not the types who will become friendly in a short matter of time. Please be patient. (I have to tell myself that every time I write, too) ;)**

**I think that`s all I need to add in this round… I hope you all leave behind a review, as I am super-excited to receive them! I love hearing what you think and suggest for my story, after all, **_**you`re**_** the ones I`m trying to please! **

**When it comes to the next chapter, I`m not quite sure on when it will be ready yet. I think I want to guess on Thursday night (Norwegian time), but I don`t dare to promise you that. But I **_**can**_** promise that it **_**will**_** be ready by Friday, the least!**

**Have a good day everyone, see you around. Take care:)**


	6. Chapter 6: The Encounter

**Puh..!**

**Finally! This chapter was so difficult to write, I have been thinking about it non-stop since Tuesday. But now I`m finally somewhat pleased with it, and I hope you will be, too!**

**Thanks for the great support on the last chapter, I`m sooo glad you guys liked Rex! As I`ve mentioned before, he will re-appear further out in the story, and I can hardly wait to write about him again!**

**Someone asked me whether this story is a Sulley X Randall-story, and if that means a Sulley-and-Randall-love-story (I`m Norwegian, I don`t know all the terms!), the answer is YES! Woohoo! I can`t wait for the romance to start, I want to write all the cuddly, fluffy chapters NOW! :D But I believe in a good introduction, and I also want to stay true to the characters – Sulley and Randall are NOT the kind of characters who would fall in love straight away, I need to give them time;) **

**So what`s there to say about today`s chapter… I really don't know, but it has a lot of dialogue..! And of course, it features Sulley`s first encounter with a Randall who`s not asleep. **

**I hope you`ll like it, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Encounter**

As the taxi was driving through the centre of Monstropolis, its headlights illuminated the road ahead. Streetlights lit up both sides of the road, but still there was a noticeable darkness all around – no wonder, since the clock was approaching eight in the evening.

Sulley sat in the rear seat of the cab, looking out of the window. All he could see was his own reflection hanging outside the car, and it upset him; did he really look _that_ tired? He closed his eyes and tried to think clear, but his head was exploding with thoughts and questions; less than thirty minutes had passed since he had gotten the shock of his life, and his hands were still shaking – even if he sat on them.

* * *

When he had first spotted Randall asleep on the couch in the apartment, he had frozen; completely unable to think or move. He had just stared at his former rival for several minutes, and the image had been so hard to take in;

Randall had looked so exhausted, so thin, so… fragile.

Was this really the same monster who had tried to kill him a month ago? Sulley didn`t really know what made him question; the way Randall looked right now, or the fact that he had Sophie`s story in the back of his head while watching him. Whatever it was, there _was_ something that caused him to look at Randall in a whole new way, and a part of him wanted to reach out a hand and stroke his head - try to brush away his bad memories, maybe;

Randall`s life had been unfair, and nobody had even known – it made Sulley feel guilty. If _he_ had known, a month ago or earlier, he would have tried to help him, no doubt about it. But what was he supposed to do _now_? Wake Randall up? Call Sophie, maybe?

Sulley had gotten to his senses and decided the best thing would probably be not to touch the sleeping monster – maybe fragile-sleeping-Randall would still be one-month-ago-angry-vengeful-Randall in his waking state; Sulley had confessed to himself that if _that _was the case, he`d prefer the sleeping-version; he wasn`t in the mood for attempted murder right now.

After looking at the purple monster on the couch for yet a while, Sulley had finally turned around to leave. He had a thousand questions he would have loved to ask Randall, such as how he had gotten back, how long he had been in Monstropolis and so on, but chose to trust his earlier decision of not waking him up. He was sure that was for the best. Although he knew more about Randall now after talking to his sister, he still didn`t see him as a close friend he could really talk to – and he seriously doubted Randall looked at _him _that way either. No, the best thing would probably be to just leave. And so he did.

* * *

But back in the cab, he had started doubting; Randall had looked terrible, was he okay? Should he perhaps have done something more than just look at him? Should he come back? Did anyone else know about the lizard`s return? Did Randall have anyone to turn to? Sophie would have mentioned it if she knew her brother was back, wouldn`t she?

All the questions caused Sulley to moan, and he started to rub his eyes; why was he so upset over Randall? The second top-scarer had never occupied his mind before, was this simply the feeling of guilt taking him over?

His stomach growled – what was the last time he ate; around lunch? Did Randall have any food? He had looked very thin –

"Urgghh."

He had to try not to think any more about Randall tonight – it gave him a headache. Instead, he started thinking about dinner; Sulley was sure that a nice meal would make him feel better and able to think clear. And as the taxi approached his building, he had actually managed (almost) to replace the thoughts of Randall with thoughts of Mike`s slime-burgers.

* * *

Monsters Inc.`s CEO was more quiet than usual during dinner. Mike went on and on about everything as usual, but Sulley didn`t respond with his normal "yes"-es and "wow"-s at suitable places in the conversation.

Mike noticed: "Hey, big guy! I just told you Celia hurt her tentacle when she collected her mail today, and you don`t say anything? Don`t you care about her? Don`t you care about _me_?"

Sulley looked at his friend with an empty expression.

"And you have hardly touched your slime-burger! Come on, I`ve struggled in the kitchen for like two hours, and for what? First; you come home too late. Second; you`re being dull. And third; - Sul, are you even listening? Okay, that`s it – it`s official – you don`t care about me". Mike threw his arms up in the air and leaned back on the chair as he went on;

"I have never mattered to you, have I? What about college, Sulley? Who trained you to be the greatest scarer ever? Have you forgotten? You owe me! Come on Sul, the least you could do is talk to me! What`s eating you?"

"Randall." Sulley didn`t even look up.

"Okay, that`s – wait, _what_?" Mike stared at Sulley as if he was a stranger who had just showed up at the dinner-table;

"Don`t tell me you`re sitting here thinking about _Randall_? Sulley, he`s gone! We threw him through a door! He`s history, don`t let his memory spoil our meal!"

"You don`t understand, Mike -" Sulley`s face expressed a level of grief that Mike had hardly ever seen him with before; "I talked to Sophie today, his sister. He`s had a really difficult past, his parents died when he was only eight, he spent a long period of time in hospital, he had a hard time making friends, he -"

"He`s a criminal!" Mike spoke extra clearly, to make sure Sulley got every word he was saying; "He tried to kill us both! And he put me in that… that… _thing_." Mike still had problems talking about the scream-extractor.

"I think he was really messed up, Mike. You should have heard Sophie; she truly gave me a new impression of him. I don`t – well, I don`t actually think he`s a bad person. I just think he made a lot of bad choices".

"Well, that`s really good, Sulley. Take it from his sister; she`s probably the right person to give you a professional, objective opinion -" Sulley raised his hand to interrupt, but Mike went on; "But unfortunately, as I pointed out before, Randall is not around anymore!"

Mike went back to his dinner, and Sulley tried to do the same. But then there was that other thing that was troubling him…

"Mike?"

"What? You wanna talk about Waternoose now?"

"No, still Randall."

"Yikes Sulley, you`re obsessed!" Mike continued to eat, but Sulley could see that he was eager to hear what he had to say;

"Mike, just listen – I was in his apartment with Sophie today, like I told you at work, and – and I went back later this evening on my own -"

"You _did_? Jeez Sulley, you _are_ obsessed! What exactly did you do there on your own; lick his toothbrush?"

"I left my wallet there, and went back to get it, but that`s not it!" Sulley leaned forward and started whispering – although he and Mike was alone; "Mike, Randall is _back_!"

For the first time that day, or maybe that year, Mike fell completely silent. It took several seconds before he was able to speak again;

"_What_?"

His eye was even wider than usual, and his mouth was open; which was a rather unpleasant sight, since it was full of food; "Why do you say that?"

"I saw him. When I got back there; he was asleep, he didn`t see me, I don`t think he knows that I know, but I don`t know what to do! You should`ve seen him, he looked -"

He didn`t get a change to finish his sentence before Mike was all over the place;

"Randall`s back! Sulley, we have to call someone; The CDA, the police, anyone!"

"Mike, wait -"

"I have to alarm Celia! And my mum! Oh my God, Sulley, what are we going to about my mum?! I have to protect her!"

"Mike -"

"Okay, here`s the deal – _you`ll_ go get my mum, and _I`ll_ alarm Celia – we`ll meet you at the corner of Winslow`s Street in one hour, and then we -"

"MIKE!" Sulley had to raise his voice in order to make his friend listen, but once he had won his attention, he lowered it again;

"I don`t think Randall is after revenge!"

"You don`t? Then why _is _he here; to pick up his passport?"

"Think about it – if he`s after revenge – why hasn`t he come to get us yet? Nobody knows he`s here, he could just camouflage, walk right into the factory and kill us! But he hasn`t!"

"What if he came back like an hour ago, and just decided to take a nap before he comes for us?"

"I don`t know, Mike. It`s just… After what Sophie told me, I`ve started thinking he`s actually a real sensitive guy, and I`ve felt sorry for him all day..! And sorry for what we did to him…I should have done something else. Anything else."

Mike looked at his best friend for a long time before he said something – by now, his tone was a lot calmer;

"Man, you`re serious; you actually think there`s a different side to Randall..!"

Sulley nodded. He still had a hard time figuring out why he cared – Sophie had told him not to pin anything involving Randall on himself, but he couldn`t help it; he felt guilty for not doing anything to help.

Mike`s look was very serious as he continued;

"So – what are you planning to do, if Randall`s really back, troubled, and not after revenge?"

"I thought about it all the way home, Mike; and… I think… I think I want to try to talk to him".

"Don`t. You can`t talk to Randall".

"Have you ever tried? I mean, have you ever tried to have a normal conversation with him?"

Mike had to admit that he hadn`t;

"But I`m not exactly up for it either, Sul; I don`t see him as the easiest person to talk to. However, I`ll be happy to give you a ride over to his place in my car tomorrow, to let _you _ risk your life and try to have a talk with him – that is, if that`s what it takes to shut you up about this".

"You will? Thanks, Mike, that`s very nice of you!" Sulley smiled for the first time that evening, and Mike gave him one back;

"I just want one tiny thing in return."

"What`s that?"

"Finish your stupid slime-burger! I spent two hours in the kitchen preparing them!"

Sulley looked at his plate; Mike had really done a good job with their dinner. The dessert wasn`t _that_ tempting; the whole seeing-Randall-shock had caused Sulley to forget all about his groceries, and so their dessert that night was going to be slightly expired yoghurt from the fridge; he hadn`t dared to tell Mike yet.

* * *

Hardly a word was spoken between the two best friends in Mike`s car the next morning. Mike was nervous for Sulley`s attempted talk with Randall, and Sulley had to admit that he was, too; he had no idea of how his former colleague would react, but what bugged him the most was the fact that he couldn`t come up with a good answer for himself to what exactly he wanted the talk to lead to. Did he want to get to know Randall better as a friend? Get rid of the whole guilt-feeling? Both? Make sure Randall was okay? He didn`t know, and the more he thought about it, the more he started to doubt whether this visit was a good idea or not.

"Here we are". Mike slowed down and stopped the car outside of Randall`s building; "Are you sure about this, Sul?"

"Yeah… I just want to see if he`s okay…"

"Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, you`ll be late for work. Just go, I`ll walk there later". He stepped out of the car and closed the door. "See you later, Mike".

"I hope so", Mike mumbled as he drove off towards the factory.

* * *

Randall was hungry. He had been home for more than 24 hours now, and he still hadn`t been eating. He was on his third or fourth cup of tea, and he realized that he had to get hold of some food soon; but how? It wasn`t like he could go the store, and there was no one he could contact and ask to him bring some.

He had actually thought about calling Sophie, but he had decided she could not be trusted. Not after what she had told Sullivan yesterday.

Just as he started thinking about the idea of sneaking into Mrs Lorenzo`s apartment and rob her fridge, he heard the sound of the front door being unlocked;

Jeez, was Sophie back already? Why? Was she going to go through his personal belongings or something now?

Just the idea of that made Randall want to jump out in front of her and scare her, but he decided it would be safer to just hide again and see what she was up to. So he camouflaged again, turned off the TV and crawled back onto the ceiling, looking at the door and expecting Sophie to come through it any moment; he could hear the sound of footsteps approaching.

When Randall saw who the monster walking through the door to his living room was, he almost fell down to the floor – intentionally; a quick faint right now would have been preferred. Sullivan was here again? _Why_?

Sullivan looked more insecure than he had done the day before; he had a nervous look on his face, walked slowly, and gazed around the room for every step he took. His eyes fell on the covers on the sofa, and then on the teacups on the table. He touched one of them, and Randall cursed on the inside – that cup was still hot.

Randall wasn`t prepared for the question. Not at all. The first time, he assumed Sullivan was only talking to himself; but as he spoke again, Randall suddenly recognized that the name being spelled out was his own – and a shiver went all the way up his spine:

"Psst! Hey, Randall? Are you in here?"

Randall panicked. How could Sullivan possibly know he was here? Was _that_ the reason he was back today?

"Randall", Sulley spoke up, "Are you in here? I need to talk to you, come on out!"

Randall didn't know how to respond – if he was to respond at all. The idea of letting Sullivan know he was there made him feel terrified, as he had no idea of what the blue monster was planning to do to him. He chose to remain silent.

But Sulley didn`t give up that easy:

"Come on Randall, I _know_ you`re here; I saw you last night! I`m not gonna hurt you or anything, I just need to talk to you! Come on!"

No freaking way.

"Randall!"

At that point, Sulley started searching through the apartment. He looked behind the couch, under the table, in the bedroom, in the bathroom, and as he started looking through the cabinets in the kitchen, Randall couldn`t bear with it anymore;

"For fuck`s sake Sullivan, will you just stop?!"

Sulley stood up and looked around, but couldn`t see Randall anywhere; he was still camouflaged. He did hear him, though;

"Do you really think I`ll fit in _there_? Are you _that_ stupid? Look at the mess you`re leaving behind! What the hell are you doing in my home, you big, hairy cretin?"

"Okay, _now_ you can might as well re-appear, Randall". Sulley looked in the direction of which he had located the voice.

With a deep sigh, Randall slowly re-appeared in the ceiling – he had a big frown on his face and looked as if he had just lost his faith in monsterkind. He slowly got down to the floor and glared at Sullivan;

"You didn`t answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Sulley looked at Randall. He thought he looked way worse now than he had done the night before; he had big bags underneath his eyes, pale, dry skin and appeared to have lost an unhealthy amount of weight – he looked straight out terrible. What had he been up to in the human world?

"I… just wanted to check on you -" Sulley hadn`t planned what to say, and he regretted that now; "to see if you were okay".

Randall glared in his direction.

"I just… wanted to tell you that I`m sorry".

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get out!" Randall tossed one of the sofa-cushions on Sulley as he yelled; it didn`t have much effect, but Randall`s intent wasn`t to hurt the blue monster – he just wanted him to leave;

"This is my apartment, and I don`t want you here! Get out!"

Clearly, Randall wasn`t in the mood for company today; Sulley turned around to leave, but looked at the other, who stood perfectly still by the sofa and stared back at him - shaking with anger, over his shoulder.

As Randall picked up another sofa-cushion, Sulley knew his time was up. He went out of the living room and into the hall. He took one last look at Randall before he opened the door; the lizard stood in the same place, still with the same expression, with the cushion lifted above his head – his eyes were locked with Sulley`s, and they expressed _everything_ but hospitality.

"I`ll come back when you`re feeling better";

Sulley didn`t know why he said it – he hadn`t planned to. He didn`t even know if it was true; did he really wish to come back?

He opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and as he closed the door again, he heard the sound of something hitting it – probably another cushion-missile.

* * *

The walk to work seemed longer than yesterday. Sulley couldn`t stop thinking about how bad things had turned out in Randall`s apartment, and he felt, if possible, even worse than last night.

He didn`t know what to do now; perhaps he should just leave Randall alone? That was clearly what the other part wanted. But as he thought about the way Randall looked, and thought about Sophie`s story, he decided that he couldn`t just let him be; Randall needed help, and nobody else was going to offer him that – so if Sulley _didn`t_ try, he would probably end up feeling guilty about that, too.

He had to go back. He _had _to get him to talk.

* * *

Randall sat on his couch with a new cup of tea. He was still shaking from his encounter with Sullivan, or maybe it was from the hunger he was feeling – he wasn`t exactly sure, but no matter what had caused it, it made him feel bad all the same.

"_I just wanted to check on you…"_

"_I just wanted to tell you that I`m sorry…"_

Randall frowned as he thought about Sullivan`s words; who was _he_ to show up here and suddenly care? It was probably the talk with Sophie that had softened him up, Jeez, why couldn`t she just have kept her mouth shut?

Randall lay down and closed his eyes; he was still tired, and he really didn`t have anything better to do. But he couldn`t sleep – there was something on his mind, something else Sullivan had said;

"_I`ll come back when you`re feeling better"._

"Then you`ll _never_ have to come back", Randall thought to himself – nothing could possibly make him feel better - ever.

He pulled the bedcovers up over his head and tried to sleep again – the only thing on his mind was the hope that Sullivan hadn`t meant what he had said about coming back.

* * *

**Well? Your opinions? **

**As I said, this one was difficult to write – but I`m pleased with my result. I hope you are, too! **

**What do you think about Sulley and Randall`s encounter? There`s already a kiss in the air, don`t you think? XD At least a pillow-fight..!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you leave behind a review to let me know what you think – I appreciate all of your opinions on my story:) **

**The next chapter is in the making, and Sulley`s good intentions will be a bit more successful there than in this one! There`s still no kiss in the air yet, but maybe friendship? **

**I`m going to be home alone for a couple of days now, so I`ll have more time than usual to work on the story; yay! My guess is that I`ll publish the next chapter on Saturday (still Norwegian time), so make sure you check out the story again around that time!**

**Can`t wait to hear what you think about this chapter, and I can s**_**eriously **_**not wait to publish the next one!**

**Have a great day, everyone!**


	7. Chapter 7: Good News

**Hello guys!**

**Time for a new chapter! I hope you`re ready!**

**Again: Thank you all **_**so**_** much for the kind reviews you`re leaving behind! It makes me **_**so**_** happy to know somebody out there likes what I do, especially since this is my first fanfic! It really means a lot to me! Thanks!**

**And a special thank you to 90s Total drama pokemon who mentioned my story in ones` own! *hugs* I`m reading yours, too;)**

**I will also like to send a special thanks to Jillamos, who said that I`m a good writer. That makes me very proud of myself; I`ve mentioned earlier that I`m Norwegian, and that English isn`t my mother tongue. This is the first thing I`ve written in English besides essays for school, and I`m glad to hear that I don`t stink at it! :D**

**I`ve had a couple of questions (again) on whether this story is a Sulley/Randall-thing. Once again I`m thrilled to say that IT IS! :D Yay! I can`t wait for the romance to start!**

**Today`s chapter is called "Good News", and it brings Randall, well; just that. I also have some good news for **_**you**_**; Rex is in this chapter! Not a lot, but he`s there. And he will re-appear again later, trust me:) **

**I think that`s all I have to say before the actual story… So go on, read and meet me at the bottom! **

* * *

**Chapter 7: Good news**

The new day at Monsters Inc. had lasted for more than an hour when the CEO arrived; Celia met him in the door with tons of messages, and Terrie-the-Roz-replacement had paperwork for him to fill out. In a way, Sulley was happy about it; if he only kept himself busy enough during the day, perhaps he could manage to forget about his bad experiences in Randall`s apartment that morning…

After he had gone through all of his messages, filled out the paperwork and even cleaned his desk, Sulley decided to visit one of the laugh-floors; the thought of Randall still wouldn`t let go, and so the blue monster thought he needed a cheer-up - and where could he get that, if not on a laugh-floor?

He closed the door to his own office and started walking towards the floor Mike was on; there was always something going on _there._ If Mike couldn`t get him to laugh, then he could always count on George Sanderson, who always screwed things up for himself; he tripped and fell over like five times a day – every day.

* * *

Mike had just left a kids` room when Sulley entered the laugh-floor; he was relieved to see that the CEO was still alive, with all of his limbs intact, and left his station for a minute to talk to his boss and best friend;

"Hey, Sul! Glad to see you`re still in one piece! How`d it go?"

Sulley tried to smile back at Mike, but doubted it looked very convincing;

"Fine".

"Sulley?" Mike narrowed his eye.

"Okay, he threw me out".

"Told you so". Mike`s expression showed a brief satisfaction, and Sulley didn`t like it. He immediately tried to defend himself;

"He was just tired, that`s it… I`m going back there when he`s feeling better!"

"Sulley, please don`t; you tried talking to him and it didn`t work. It was a nice effort, but now you should just stop!"

"You should`ve seen him -"

"Sulley; leave it. You tried. It didn`t work. Leave the guy alone". Mike sounded as if he had reached a conclusion.

Sulley sighed. Maybe Mike was right; maybe he should just leave Randall alone. That was clearly what the lizard wanted, too. But the image of the thin, exhausted creature had burnt into Sulley`s head, and he couldn`t get it off his mind. But he chose not to tell Mike. Instead, he started talking about work;

"How`s it going here? Did anyone miss me this morning?"

"Nay, not really. It`s been quiet. George Sanderson fell over again and hurt his toe, though". Mike pointed towards a nearby bench, where George sat with a bag of ice on his foot; Sulley had to strangle a laugh – _typical_.

"Wanna watch me make this kid laugh?" Mike was on his way back to his station and the next door;

"No, I`m sorry, Mike. I have to get some coffee, I still don`t feel fully awake here…"

"Okay; see you at lunch!"

Mike continued towards his door, and Sulley headed for the closest coffee-machine. As he rounded the corner, he suddenly heard someone call out his name in an abnormally happy tone;

"Ulley!"

He looked up and noticed that the children in the dayscare-program were on a trip around the factory, and that one of them was running towards him; Rex. The little monster smiled with his entire face and waved eagerly, and Sulley lifted his hand and waved back.

"Ulley!" Rex repeated as he jumped on to the CEO`s leg and squeezed it in a hug.

Sulley felt a little uncomfortable since there were other monsters around looking, but chose to bend down and hug the orange monster back;

"Hey, you..!"

"What`s ma name?" Rex looked at Sulley with anticipation as he pulled his tie.

"Hmm, let me see…" Sulley pretended he had a hard time remembering it;

"Rex, wasn`t it?"

"Yeah! You know me, you wemembe ma name – Ulley, come with me!"

Rex took hold of Sulley`s hand and tried to pull him over to the rest of the dayscare-group, while he talked constantly;

"Ulley, can you visit me today? Can you come fow ma biwthday? I`m thwee, I`m big! You think I`m big? Wanna hea how faw I can count? One, two, thwee, fouw, five -"

"Rex, don`t disturb Mister Sullivan!" The dayscare-teacher took hold of Rex`s hand and tried to get him off Sulley; "He`s at work!"

"He and me awe fweinds!"

"That`s very nice, but now you have to let go of him; we`re going back to the dayscare to eat, and then it`s nap-time!"

"Nooo!"

Rex wouldn`t let go of Sulley`s leg, and the CEO had to help the teacher loosen the little kid`s grip;

"You better listen to the teacher, Rex".

"Can you visit me again?" Tears had started to gather up in Rex`s big, green eyes, and Sulley smiled down at him as he handed him over to the teacher;

"Sure, some other time! See you around, mate!"

He waved to Rex, who waved back with one hand, held his teacher in another, dried his eyes with a third and tried to push the teacher away with a fourth.

"Who was _that_?" Mike`s voice surprised Sulley; he hadn`t heard him coming.

"That`s Rex. Randall`s nephew".

"Jeez Sulley, is there something going on in your life at the moment that _isn`t _about Randall?"

"Why are you here, Mike?" Sulley let out a deep sigh.

"I forgot to tell you; I`m eating lunch with Celia today, so I won`t be able to meet you. And I`m taking her out tonight, so then the place will be all yours; perhaps you wanna invite Randall over, or something…"

"_Mike_".

"Okay, I`m sorry. But the place _is_ yours, so you can do whatever you want. Okay?"

"Fine. Thanks for telling me. Have fun with Celia!"

"Thanks".

Mike headed back to the laugh-floor as Sulley went back to his office; he could hear Mike sing a self-composed love-song on his way.

* * *

The day went by in its usual routines, and Sulley kept himself busy in his office. It helped him keep his mind off Randall; almost. He ate lunch with some friends from the factory, and even joined in on a game of cards.

Everything was perfectly normal; until he ran into Sophie on his way back from the cafeteria;

"Sulley! Hi! How did it go last night?"

"What?"

"Your wallet; did you find it?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Sulley had forgotten all about his first reason to go back to Randall`s apartment; "No problem!"

"I`m glad you found it. Don`t you just hate it when things go missing like that? It happens to me all the time; Rex hid my keys a couple of days ago, and -"

Keys. He suddenly remembered; Sophie probably wanted back her key!

"Sophie?"

"Yes?"

"I… I left Randall`s key at home..!"

"That`s okay, I don`t need it at the moment".

Sulley surprised himself; why on earth was he lying? He had the key in his office; he could give it back to Sophie right now!

But then – he wouldn`t be able to go back to check on Randall. He doubted Randall would open to him if he rang the doorbell, and he _really_ wanted to see how the lizard was doing; he didn`t exactly know _why,_ though.

"Are you sure, Sophie?"

"Yes, take your time. I have to wait a little before I go back there anyway; I`m quite busy at the moment".

"Thanks".

"No problem". She smiled at him; the same, warm smile he had grown to like so much.

"By the way, I talked to Rex this morning!"

"He`s your number one fan now; he talked about nothing but you last night".

Sulley smiled and let out a laugh; Randall`s nephew was really something.

He said goodbye to Sophie and headed back for his office. He thought about the key; he wondered if he really wanted to go back to Randall`s place to try to talk to him. Mike would be gone tonight anyway, so… Perhaps he should give it another go?

* * *

It was late in the afternoon, and Randall ate cereal. Dry cereal, since he had no milk. He had searched through his kitchen, and the only food that hadn`t expired was this box of Kreature Krisp. It was dry, and every crumble seemed to stick to his tongue and palate as he ate; it was miserable, and it only made him feel hungrier. Being back in Monstropolis sure wasn`t as grand as he had pictured it to be – this was like prison.

And just like in prison, he could get visitors; someone suddenly knocked on the door. Randall looked up, but didn`t bother opening. As he heard someone unlocking the door from the outside, he cursed, camouflaged and climbed back onto the ceiling; just in case.

"Hey, Randall?"

Sullivan`s voice sounded even more insecure than it had done in the morning, but his steps were more determined; he walked straight into the living room and asked again:

"Randall?"

Randall sighed and re-appeared as he climbed back down to the couch;

"What part of "get out" is it that you don`t understand, Sullivan?"

Sulley didn`t answer at first; he just looked at the purple-greyish, thin creature on the couch; he really _did_ look terrible.

A moment of complete silence followed, and Randall placed his hand on one of the sofa-cushions; just in case he felt like throwing something again.

"Are you feeling better now?" Sulley`s voice still sounded insecure, and his worried expression caused Randall to look in another direction; a desire to throw the cushion rose.

A new pause.

"Like I said, I just wanted to check on you". Sulley was still looking at the other, trying to catch his eyes;

"You don`t look so good; what has happened? How long have you been here?"

No answer. Randall still looked away.

"How did you get back?"

Randall still didn`t turn his head, and his expression was still blank.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Hell no.

"If you`re still not feeling good, I can come back some other day. Do you want me to leave?"

"I think I`ve made that perfectly clear already…"

Randall`s answer caused Sulley to jump; he had gotten used to the lizard not doing so, and saw the answer as a small victory – even though it wasn`t exactly cheerful.

"Okay, then; I`ll leave you alone"; Sulley turned around to leave, and a sudden feeling of sadness came over him – and surprised him. He knew that he wanted to find out more about how Randall had gotten back, but he hadn`t been expecting to feel this way.

He took one last look at Randall as he opened the door; "Be safe, now";

Sulley stepped out into the hall, but turned around again; Randall cursed – why couldn`t he just leave?

"Oh, and by the way, Randall; you really should eat something else than just cereal", Sulley pointed to the box of Kreature Krisp on the table; "No offence, but you don`t look too good – how much weight have you lost?"

"I would like to see _you_ try to get hold of food when you can`t step outside the door…"

"Why can`t you go outside? Are you hurt?"

A veil of worry appeared in Sulley`s eyes, and Randall hurried to explain; he thought that if he didn`t, Sullivan would probably carry him off to hospital;

"I`m fine. But I`ll rather stay hidden from the police. This apartment is one thing, jail is something else".

"Why do you think someone would take you to jail?"

Sullivan spoke with a convincing surprise in his voice, and for the first time ever, Randall found himself to be actually interested in what he had to say;

"I know what I did, Sullivan..!"

"But nobody else does".

The confused look in Randall`s eyes caused Sulley to re-enter the apartment and take a couple of steps towards him; which caused Randall to take a couple of steps back – there was no need to get too close.

Sulley looked straight at Randall as he explained:

"You`re _not_ wanted by the police, Randall..! It is common knowledge that Waternoose was the mastermind behind the scandal; he confessed everything in the scare-simulator. We got it on tape. He`s going to prison, and although your name came up during the trial, you`re not charged for anything. You were just mentioned as Waternoose`s sidekick, alongside with Fungus, and Fungus defended you; he said that you were threatened to help Waternoose, and that you really had nothing to do with it".

Randall could hardly believe the words he was hearing; Fungus had defended him? He wasn`t one of Monstropolis` most wanted after all?

"And by the way -" Sulley continued, "Mike and I even got a little trouble with the judge for illegally banishing you to the human world. Apparently, you`re supposed to talk it over with the authorities before sending someone through a one-way door. Did you know that?"

"No".

There really wasn`t anything more to say. Randall couldn`t believe his name had been cleared while he`d been away, and Sulley clearly understood what was on his mind;

"You`re a free monster, Randall – you can do whatever you want".

"I want you to leave". Randall turned his head again; he was done looking at Sullivan.

"I will, in a minute"; Sulley`s voice suddenly gained a more serious tone as he stepped back into the hallway:

"I just want you to tell me that the first thing you`ll do is to buy yourself some decent food".

"Will you leave me alone, then?"

"Sure… I just want to know you`ll get by, that`s it. And I really think you need to eat something".

"Okay; I`ll buy some food tomorrow. Happy?"

"And you`ll _eat_ it?"

"Well, duh..!"

"Good. Take care, Randall, and -"

That was all Sulley managed to say before the door was shut in his face; his visitation-time was clearly over. Although the purple monster was angry right now, Sulley smiled as he started the walk home; this had gone like ten times better than his morning-visit; the least.

* * *

**Aaaand that`s it for today! A bit more cheerful than the previous chapter, don`t you think? But still no kiss anywhere in sight, though… *sigh***

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I really enjoyed writing it! Writer`s block got me when I published the previous chapter, and I had no idea of what to do for this one. I know how the entire story is going to end, but I don`t know everything that`s going to happen in between. However, I got over the block, and the chapter practically wrote itself. I`m almost done with the next one too, and that`s going to be a sweet one! It has pancakes and a bath in it..! I can`t wait to share it with you:)**

**Time to end for now, please review and let me know what you think – I appreciate it!**

**As for the next chapter, I want to say Monday or Tuesday – depends on how busy I am. **

**See you around, enjoy the rest of your weekend:) **


	8. Chapter 8: A Day To Forget

**Hi there!**

**I hope you`re ready for another chapter! A cute one..! :D**

**First of all; Once again, thank you all soooo much for every review, follower and/or favorite! You guys are the best! Seriously, I act like a fourteen-year-old on a Bieber-concert every time I receive a new mail xD **

**I still can`t believe I`m actually writing this story, and it`s even harder to believe that somebody`s reading and (hopefully) enjoying it! Yay! I`m so happy these days, and I owe it to **_**you**_**! I`ll try my very best to continue to please:)**

**So, as for today`s chapter… ****Oh my God, where to start? I **_**hope**_** you`re in the mood for something cute, cuz this is what I consider to be my sweetest chapter yet..! My story is still in an early face, and because of that, there`s no romance, relationship, kiss or even cuddling anywhere in sight; but there **_**is**_** some sort of awkward cuteness in this chapter! We need that now! Yay! :D And just as I said, chapter 8 has pancakes, a bath and an angry lizard who doesn`t seem to know his own good;) **

**I think that`s all I have to say before the actual chapter… God, I`m so excited about this one! Hope you are, too! Here it is:**

* * *

**Chapter 8: A day to forget**

Sulley had enjoyed a wonderful night of sleep; the best he`d had in weeks. As he woke up in the morning, he felt restored and satisfied without even knowing why. Or maybe he just chose not to realize it; the thought of Randall was still on his mind, and although Sulley found it quite weird, the fact that he had got the lizard to talk yesterday made him feel truly good.

He really wanted to apologise to Randall and get rid of this cloud of guilt he had felt hanging over his head for the past few days; and now that he had seen the current state his former co-worker was in, Sulley felt that the best way to make it all up to him was by helping – whether the other part wanted it or not.

Sulley`s new day, a cold Friday that held promises of snow in the air, started with a cup of coffee and some breakfast with Mike, who couldn`t help but notice his best friend`s state of mind;

"Looks like you`re in a good mood today..?"

"Yeah..! I`ve slept well".

"Good to hear; you`ve seemed kinda tired lately. You`re too stressed out about work, and for the last couple of days you`ve had that whole Randall-thing as well… I almost started to worry about you, Sul".

Sulley lowered his gaze and stared at his plate; he hadn`t told Mike that he had been over at Randall`s apartment yesterday afternoon, or that he had managed to have a nearly normal conversation with the monster living there. Mike had specifically told him not to go over there, but Sulley had ignored him; it made him feel uncomfortable, but at the same time, the memories of his "talk" with Randall almost made him smile… Why? This whole thing was so awkward! Randall had never occupied his mind before..!

"Sul, you`re not listening..! I`m right here!" Mike waved in an attempt to win Sulley`s attention, and the blue monster finally lifted his gaze;

"Huh? I`m sorry, I don`t think I`m fully awake yet..! What did you say, Mike?"

"I said I have no plans after work today! How `bout you? Wanna catch a movie or something?"

"I don`t know…"

_That_ was true. Sulley didn`t know; he didn`t know if he was going to visit Randall again that same afternoon or not. But there was still no way he was telling Mike, it would just upset him; Besides, Sulley was sick of Mike saying he was obsessed with Randall. Instead, he came up with a lie;

"I have to run a couple of errands after work; there`s a couple of things I need to pick up for my office… Staples and stuff…"

Mike looked disappointed, but Sulley cheered him up with a promise;

"But it shouldn`t take that long. If you want to, I can meet you at the movie theatre for an evening show?"

Sulley smiled to himself; this was perfect. If he _did_ choose to visit Randall today, he could still meet Mike before the evening was over, and then everybody would be happy. Well, except for Randall maybe, who didn`t seem to enjoy having company; although he clearly needed it.

"Great!" Mike was happy with Sulley`s suggestion; "That`s a deal! You`ve got yourself a date, big guy!"

"Great, Mike! And we`ll pick up a pizza on our way home, huh?"

"Sure! And for today, Sul; please allow _me_ to fix us dessert..!"

Sulley nodded his head as he chuckled; Mike hadn`t been happy about the yoghurt-dessert-disaster a couple of days ago…

* * *

The two best friends walked to work half an hour later; the sky was in a pale shade of greyish pink, and the sun barely shone through the thin layer of clouds. Mike talked about his dinner with Celia last night, and Sulley listened now and then; he always got detailed abstracts of all of Mike`s dates, and they were all quite similar.

As they approached the factory, Mike finally decided it was Sulley`s turn to talk;

"So what did _you_ do after work last night?"

Sulley stopped walking; he had been so busy worrying about Randall that he hadn`t come up with a cover-story for yesterday.

"Ummm…" He started thinking as fast as he could, but couldn`t come up with something good to tell Mike. Luckily, someone came to his rescue;

"Ulley!"

The cheerful cry caused both Sulley and Mike to turn their heads. Two monsters were approaching them; a blue grown up and an orange child. The orange one let go of the blue one`s hand and started running towards them as he waved with all four of his hands, and Sulley let out a relieved sigh at the sight of them;

"Hi, Rex! And Sophie, hi! On your way to work?" He greeted his new friends warmly and presented Rex with a hug.

"And dayscare", Sophie answered, taking Rex`s hand in hers; "Right, Rex?"

"Who`s that?" Rex pointed in Mike`s direction while looking at Sulley.

"Mike Wazowski, nice meeting ya, kid"; Mike didn`t wait for Sulley to answer and chose to introduce himself, reaching out a hand towards Rex. However, his gesture wasn`t noticed;

"Mike Wazowski..!" Rex repeated with a growing grin on his face, not showing any sign of accepting Mike`s hand; "Mike Wazowski! Mike Wazowski!"

"Rex, _please -_" Sophie sighed and looked at her son. "Calm down! And come along, we`re going to be late for dayscare! Nice meeting you, Mike..!" She waved briefly at her new acquaintance.

Rex waved as well as he went alongside his mother, but not to Mike; Sulley was his hero, and therefore the only one who deserved his attention.

Just before the little family entered the door, Sophie turned around as if she had forgotten to say something;

"Oh, Sulley! I just remembered -"

"_She wants her key back"_; Sulley thought to himself. And as he thought it, a surprising feeling of sadness came over him.

"I just wanted to ask you -" Sophie continued, "if you would like to come over for dinner some time? I want to properly thank you for supporting me and coming with me to Randall`s apartment!"

Sulley let out another sigh; she didn`t have the key in mind. He could still visit Randall that same afternoon. If he wanted to… He wasn`t sure yet…

"Sure"; He forced himself back to the present and answered her. "That would be great! What time?"

"I`m quite busy next week, so it has to be by the end of it; How`s Friday?"

"Next Friday sounds good". Sulley smiled at her, and so did Rex. The little monster was happy Sulley was coming over and thankful towards his mother for inviting him;

"Then I`m gonna show Ulley ma woom!"

Sophie and Rex turned around again and entered the factory. Sulley was about to do the same, but Mike held him back;

"Way to go, Sul! _She`s_ really something!"

"Yeah, she`s great; I`ve really come to like her".

"And she`s totally into you, too!" Mike smiled at his best friend, showing him how happy this made him.

"What?"

Sulley had a hard time cathing up on Mike`s last utterance; Sophie was into him? How could Mike tell?

"She just invited you on a _date_, Sul..!"

"It`s not a date! Just a friendly dinner, that`s all; Rex will be there, he`s eager to show me his room!"

"I think _she`s _more eager to show you _her_ room..!"

Mike`s smile caused Sulley to blush underneath his fur. Luckily Mike couldn`t notice that, he just went on; "This is great, Sulley; come on, when was the last time you had a date? Two years ago?"

"Something like that".

"Well, then it`s about time! And that girl sounded nice; I`ll even look away from the fact that she`s Randall`s sister! I`m happy for you, big guy!"

As they finally entered the factory, Sulley tried his best to recall the last few days and all of his encounters with Sophie; were there any signs he had been missing? He had been so busy thinking about Randall that he hardly had noticed anything else – was Sophie really into him? Or more importantly; was _he_ into _her_?

* * *

Randall was placed on his couch, flat out, with the covers from his bed draped comfortably around him. He had gotten up at around ten, and then he had walked into the living room and finished a cup of tea while watching a little TV. Life was dull.

By now, it was getting late in the afternoon, and if the curtains hadn`t been closed, Randall would have seen that snow have started to fall gently from the dark sky.

He felt tired. Perhaps he should call it an early night and just go to bed…

The idea was tempting, but before he reached to rise from the sofa a sudden knock from the hall caught his attention. Then there was the sound of the door being unlocked and opened. Randall sighed; he camouflaged, but didn`t bother climbing onto the ceiling this time; he already knew who it was…

"I thought you said you`d leave me alone?"

The tone in Randall`s voice was sharp as he spoke to Sullivan when the blue monster entered his living room for the fifth time in three days. Randall re-appeared and glared at his guest.

"If you got food, that is"; Sulley replied.

"I got food".

"Well, I`ll need to check that".

Randall could hardly believe it; Sullivan was here to _see_ if he had bought food? Who did he think he was? Who did he think _he_ was?

"What the hell? I`m not a baby, Sullivan..!"

"I know; but I`m worried about your health, and won`t feel at peace before I know you`re eating something else than dry Kreature Krisp".

Without another word, Sulley went over to the kitchen to see if Randall was telling the truth. The lizard followed him; he didn`t like the idea of Sullivan being alone in one of his rooms, and thought it was best to keep an eye on him.

Sulley opened the fridge; nothing. He opened a couple of cabinets; nothing. He opened a third one; more nothing. Randall lowered his head as Sullivan slowly turned around to look at him.

"Randall, you must be starving..!"

Sulley stared at the creature in the kitchen door, face filled with worry and compassion, and Randall looked away before he answered him;

"Am not; I just don`t feel like eating, that`s all - I`m too tired."

"You _have_ to eat, Randall, you`ll get sick! You promised me you`d buy food today!"

"_You_ promised _me_ you`d leave me alone…"

"Well, you broke _your _promise! We`re lucky I broke mine, too!"

Randall only stared at the floor with a frown on his face; he couldn`t come up with a good answer to that one.

Without a further warning, Sulley pushed Randall aside and left the kitchen. The blue one went back into the living room, and the lizard followed him. To his surprise, Randall saw that Sullivan was on his way towards the front door; was he going to leave?

"Where are you going?" Randall hated himself for asking, but he was too curious to keep himself from doing so; his worst fear now was that Sullivan would get him a doctor. Or shrink.

"You`ll see. Get back on that couch and stay there, I`ll be right back".

"You`re not in charge of me…" Randall crossed his arms and glared in the others` direction.

Sulley took a couple of steps towards him, lifted him up without even trying and carried him over to the couch; Randall had been wrong. A doctor or even shrink would have been preferred over _this_.

"You`re acting like a three-year-old..! Stay _here_; you`re not well. I`ll be right back, and meanwhile, you`re going to relax. Okay?"

Randall didn`t know what to say. Or do. What had just happened? Being carried to his couch by Sullivan had to be the most painful and humiliating happening of his entire life.

Wrong again. Just as he thought that things couldn`t possibly get any worse, they did; Sullivan tucked him in. The blue, hairy monster carefully placed the bed-covers over the purple one, who made faces in disgust;

"For crying out loud -"

"Stay here".

"Just get the fuck out!"

Randall`s tough words lost a bit of their effect when they came from a monster who was carefully tucked in on the sofa, but Sulley did as he was told; although not _because_ he was told so.

* * *

Randall was woken up by a gentle touch on his shoulder and a soft voice;

"Randall".

The lizard opened his eyes as far as he could without his glasses, and looked into Sullivan`s face; Great…

"You`ve been sleeping for a good hour now. How are you feeling?"

"None of your business… How long were you gone for?"

"About half an hour".

"What did you do?"

"I bought you something to eat".

"Do you think I can`t afford food..?" Humiliation came over him again; did Sullivan believe the reason why he hadn`t bought food yesterday was because he couldn`t afford it?

"I know you can afford food, but that`s not helping us when you don`t have the sense to _buy _food..!"

Randall sat up; this whole situation was awkward. The fact that Sullivan was _here_ for the third day in a row was odd enough, and the carrying, tucking in, gently awakening and buying food topped it. Besides –

Randall smelled something as well. Something that clearly wasn`t food; it was some sweet scent that came from… the bathroom?

"What`s that smell?" Randall`s eyes expressed insecurity as they met with Sullivan`s.

"Foam."

"Foam..?"

"I poured you a bath".

"No, you _didn`t_."

"Did too; it will help you relax".

"I`m _not_ taking a bath."

"Yes you are."

"Not with _you_ here."

"Here`s the deal, Randall; you can either go into the bathroom and step into the tub by yourself, or I`ll carry you in there; your choice".

Randall got up without another word and half-walked/half-ran over to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, but couldn`t lock it; he lived alone, and had never needed a key to his bathroom-door before. He regretted that now.

"I`ll prepare dinner while you`re in there!"

Sullivan`s voice penetrated the walls, and Randall growled. Then he looked at the bath. He didn`t want to get in, but figured it would probably be best not to risk it; he didn`t doubt for a second that Sullivan would come in there and _lift_ him in if he didn`t enter by himself. That would have been unbearable.

He stepped into the warm water with another growl. This was so humiliating.

"I`m in..!"

Randall shouted towards the door, just to make sure that Sullivan wouldn`t have a reason to poke his head in to check. That would have been the icing on the cake right now.

* * *

"Randall..!"

For the second time in an hour, Randall was woken up by Sullivan`s voice and a tap on his shoulder. He`d fallen asleep again, in the bathtub this time. He opened his eyes, only to see Sullivan kneel beside him with a towel, and the sight caused him to quickly shut them again. This wasn`t even the icing on the cake; it was the sprinkles on top of the chocolate sauce on top of the cherry on _top_ of the icing on the cake. For the third time that day, his life had reached a new low-point.

"Tell me this is just a bad dream…" Randall grimaced, still with his eyes tightly shut.

"Dinner`s ready! You fell asleep again, you`ve been in here for 45 minutes!" Sullivan placed the towel on the floor, got up and started walking towards the door. Before he left the bathroom he turned around and smiled at Randall; "I told you it would help you relax!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Randall mumbled as he reached for the towel and slowly got up from the tub; "I _hate _you…"

* * *

After around ten minutes, the lizard had managed to drag himself into the kitchen, where he was met by the smell of something sweet;

"Pancakes?" He looked at the plate on table and noticed a heap of thick, slightly burned pancakes; clearly, Sullivan wasn`t among Monstropolis` finest chefs...

"At least an attempt..! Do you like pancakes?"

"Yeah – Or… It`s okay I guess".

Sulley smiled as Randall sat down across the table from him. Randall took hold of his fork, but then he suddenly noticed that the table was only set for one;

"You`re not having anything?"

"I made these for _you_; Besides, I`m going to eat dinner with Mike later in the evening".

"I`ll feel uncomfortable if you`re just gonna sit there and watch me!"

"But I`m not hungry at the moment, and like I said, I`ve made these for -"

"Eat a bloody pancake!"

Randall`s snap caused Sulley to get up and get a plate for himself as well; he sat back down, helped himself with a pancake and started to cut it. Randall did the same. Not a word passed between the two while they ate, but Sulley lifted his head to look at Randall every once in a while; he actually seemed to enjoy the meal. Sulley figured it had to be because he hadn`t been eating for a while; it most certainly wasn`t because of the burnt pancakes…

When they were done eating, Sulley did the dishes; Randall had offered to help (or actually he had told Sulley to leave, so that he could deal with it himself), but Sulley had commanded him back on the couch to rest. So while the blue monster had cleaned the dishes, the purple one had yelled at him constantly from the living room for putting things back in their wrong places – until he had fallen asleep again.

* * *

"Randall..! Are you awake?"

Sulley gently patted Randall`s shoulder to wake him up for the third time; "I`ll have to go home now..! Do you want me to help you off to bed?"

"Don`t even think about it; I`m awake!" Randall rubbed his eyes as he sat up on the couch; the fact that Sullivan was going home was the best thing he had heard all day.

"Look Randall, I`m going to spend the weekend with Mike, so I won`t be able to check in on you for a couple of days..!" Sulley had worry written all over his face; "You`ll have a couple of days to yourself!"

"Great..!"

"I`ve bought you some microwave-dinners, they`re in your fridge. Promise me you`ll eat them, okay?"

"Why can`t you just leave?"

"Randall! Do you promise me you`ll eat the microwave-dinners?" Sulley raised his voice.

"Fine… If _you_ promise you`ll leave me alone this time".

"I will, I`ve already told you -" Sulley looked at the other, but lowered his gaze as he thought to himself; _"At least until Monday…"_

A moment of silence followed. None of the monsters felt the urge to say anything.

Just as Randall thought it was the time to break the silence and tell Sulley to get out, the blue monster beat him to it;

"Are you going to be alright here?"

"Yes".

"Are you sure?"

"Yes".

"Absolutely sure?"

"I wish you hadn`t spoken to my sister".

"Oh, so you _did _hear that. Look, Randall, I`m really sorry; about everything. I didn`t know you`ve had a rough past, and –"

"I don`t want to talk about it. Get out".

"Is there anything else I can bring you..?"

"Some privacy."

"Fine… I`ll leave; but if there`s something, _anything_, don`t hesitate to call me".

"Yeah, right".

Randall got up from the couch and walked Sulley to the door. The blue monster still had a worried look on his face as he stepped out into the hallway, and turned around to face the other one last time;

"Bye Randall..! And like I said, don`t hesitate to call me if there`s something -"

The door slammed, and Sulley finished his sentence alone.

* * *

**And that`s it..!**

**Now? What do you think? Too sweet? Not sweet enough? Or..? **

**As usual, I can`t wait for your feedback and opinions, and I hope you all remember to leave a review:) Tell me what your thoughts were on this one, it`s very helpful for me when I`m working on the upcoming chapters;) **

**I`m currently working on the next one, and I have actually planned most of the chapters as far as number 14. Not in detail of course, but I know somewhat the plot for each one; Randall has **_**a lot**_** ahead, we`re not even halfway through it yet..!**

**I`m quite busy this week, so I don`t think I`ll get the next chapter out until Saturday… **_**Possibly**_** Sunday. Okay? I hope you will all be back to check it out, and that I haven`t scared you off with this one! **

**So, I`ll see you around (hopefully), and meanwhile I`ll work my butt off with chapter 9!**

**Take care!**

_**AutumnnPrincess**_


	9. Chapter 9: Fragile

**Hi all!**

**After several days of stress I finally finished my new chapter a few minutes ago. I`ve lost count on how many times I`ve changed it, but I think I`m somewhat pleased with the way it looks now… Please tell me if I`m right or not!**

**I feel like I keep repeating myself, but once again; I am stunned by all the reviews I receive on this story! Seriously, I never would have guessed! I didn`t even think anyone would read the story, but this whole experience have been nothing but a pleasant surprise so far! Thank you!**

**A special thanks to Reflected Darkness, writer of **_**Randall Boggs - under the darkness**_**, for giving my story such great mention in one`s own! I suggest you read **_**Under the darkness**_** too – especially if you`re a fan of Rex!**

**Speaking of Rex, the little guy is unfortunately not in this chapter of mine. He will be back soon, I promise! I miss him too, he`s so much fun to write about:)**

**This chapter is a little darker than the previous one, but I really like its mood; reminds me of the dark, Norwegian winters, that will be upon us in a couple of months. I love the winter! And the autumn, too; as you probably have guessed from my pen-name…**

**But anyway, I`m not gonna bore with more thoughts now; please enjoy the new chapter, number 9!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Fragile**

The weekend had seemed to last longer than usual; even though Sulley and Mike hadn`t done much more than they normally did.

On Friday evening, they had been at the cinema to watch an action movie; it hadn`t been any good, and afterwards Mike had accused Sulley for talking him into seeing it and waste his money – although the film had been Mike`s idea all along. Eventually they had picked up a pizza and headed back home; Mike had talked about his plans for the next date with Celia all the way, and he had continued talking for the rest of the evening.

On Saturday, both of the two monsters had slept in; they had breakfast at noon. The day had been very cold, with the ground covered in a thin blanket of snow, so they had decided they wanted to stay indoors all day. They had spent a little time cleaning the apartment, but then Mike had told Sulley that cleaning was not a good way to spend a Saturday. So then they had played a board game instead (which had led to an argument about the dices, which caused them to put it away again right away), followed by a brave attempt to bake mucus-buns. They didn`t turn out too good; they were eatable, but that had been it. In the evening, they had ordered another pizza and watched a talk-show on TV.

On Sunday, Mike and Sulley had decided to step outside to get some fresh air. They had gone for a walk in the park, where they had fed the pigeons the mucus-buns from yesterday, bought hot chocolate from a stand, and watched some kids ice-skate on a pond.

After a while it had started to snow quite heavily, which had caused the friends to head back home. It had snowed all the time while they were walking, and it hadn`t stopped after they`d gotten inside. During the evening, it had started to blow as well, and when the two friends sat down with their dinner (another pizza), there was a raging blizzard outside.

Randall had been on Sulley`s mind the entire weekend. The blue monster had been thinking about him ever since he had left him on Friday afternoon, and was wondering how he was doing; had he been eating?

Sulley was determined to visit Randall again after work on Monday; the lizard clearly needed someone to look after him right now, and Sulley had noticed that during his last visit there, the purple monster had seemed maybe a little less hostile than he had done for the previous two. Sure, he hadn`t seemed happy about Sulley coming over, but the blue monster figured Randall might needed some time to warm up a bit; and then maybe he would accept Sulley`s apology for banishing him, and allow Sulley to talk to him about his tragic past. One could always hope..?

* * *

It was still snowing when Sulley and Mike woke up on Monday morning. Apparently, it had been doing so all night, since the thin blanket from yesterday had grown into a thick rug. The radio told them the schools were closed, and although Mike hoped the factory would be too, Sulley dragged him along to work – it was even more important to collect energy in the winter.

After a walk that had taken around ten minutes longer than usual, the best friends arrived at the factory and entered through the main door; it seemed quiet. Clearly, the snow had delayed other workers, too.

Sulley and Mike entered the locker room together, but then they went in different directions; Sulley headed for his office and Mike for the laugh floor – both of them somewhat ready for the new day;

"You know, as CEO it`s actually _your_ choice to close down the business for a day and grant the workers a snow day..!" Mikes last words to Sulley for the morning echoed through the halls of the factory.

* * *

The best friends didn`t see each other again until it was time for lunch in the cafeteria; Mike got them a table with Terry, Terri, Art, Squishy and George. For Mike and Sulley, lunch at work was the most important meal of the day; since none of them were fond of (or good at) cooking, dinner at home often consisted of take out-food or a simple sandwich.

"It`s quiz-night at _The Horned Fish_ tonight, anyone who wants to put together a team?" Terri looked at the group around the table with anticipation as he ate his hot eyeball-soup;

"We need to be six; and as usual, they count bodies, not heads…" He looked at Terry, who turned his head with a sigh.

"I`m in!" George smiled. "That`s perfect, we`re six monsters here! We can go there together directly from work!" He made gestures with his hands as he spoke, which caused him to tip his soup-bowl into his own lap.

"I`ll come, too -" Art said, tossing George a box of napkins from his side of the table. "It`s an excellent night for a quiz, the moon`s in my ascendant. We`ll probably win!" The napkin-box hit George in the head.

"Quiz-night sounds good for me and Sulley too. Right, Sul?" Mike looked over at Sulley; the CEO was halfway under the table to pick up the napkin-box, while he desperately tried to come up with an excuse for not spending the evening with his friends;

"Ummmm… Actually…" he got back up and looked at the smiling faces at the table; "There`s something I have to do – or check - tonight."

The smiles decreased as he spoke.

"What is it that you have to check?" Mike looked at Sulley with wonder written all over his face.

"It`s just… something".

"You haven`t told me you`ve laid plans for tonight..! Since when do we keep secrets from each other? We live together!"

Sulley felt a growing feeling of discomfort as he noticed how everybody else at the table fell silent, watching him and Mike;

"It`s… Not a secret, but… I haven`t told you yet".

"So what it is? What are you going to do tonight?"

"I… Can`t tell you". He lowered his voice; "Not _here_".

Mike glared at Sulley without saying another word; he didn`t like it when his best friend kept something from him.

"…does this mean there`s not gonna be a quiz-team?" Terri was the first one to break the awkward silence that had taken over the table.

"Apparently not"; Mike looked at Sulley with an accusing expression, and Sulley`s answer was to look down in his own lap and mumble that he was sorry; although he doubted anyone heard it.

"We can call Don..!" Squishy`s interruption was a welcoming break to the rather tense atmosphere that had occurred at the table.

Don Carlton had retired from Monsters Inc. a couple of years ago, but his friends still kept in touch with him; especially Squishy, since Don happened to be married to his mum.

"Hey, that`s a good idea", Terri replied. "He`s old, he knows stuff we don`t know!"

"Stuff _you_ don`t know", Terry shot in with a new sigh, looking at his twin.

Eventually, the group agreed on calling Don and put together a team for the quiz. Mike kept his eye on Sulley, who tried to avoid contact with it.

As they left the cafeteria when the lunch-break was over, Mike hurried outside with the rest of the group, leaving Sulley no chance to talk to him. The blue monster felt terrible; he didn`t want to go behind Mike`s back any longer, and decided he had to tell him everything about the whole situation with Randall – the sooner the better.

* * *

Monsters Inc.`s CEO left work an hour early. There wasn`t anything left to do for the day, so he chose to call it an early night; besides, his thoughts had been elsewhere all day long, and he couldn`t rest until he knew how his ex-co-worker was doing.

Sulley stamped in snow at knee-height all the way from the factory to Randall`s apartment; the streets had been cleared, but the pavements clearly wasn`t that high up on the city council's list of priorities. At least the snowing had stopped, and the decreasing clouds on the sky revealed the rising moon. Its light fell on the snow on the ground, and caused it to sparkle; it wasn`t every day Monstropolis looked this beautiful.

However, Sulley was too busy hurrying to notice the beauty in the scenery around him; he was eager to find out how Randall was doing after the weekend, and didn`t want to lose a minute. As he reached the lizard`s building, Sulley noticed that his pulse was rising; he figured it had to be because of his struggling with getting through the snow.

Randall`s apartment was dark and quiet; not a single light was on, and the curtains covered all the windows, shutting the moonlight and the beautiful, sparkling snow outside. It took Sulley`s eyes a couple of minutes to get used to the lack of light as their owner entered the apartment from the well-lit hallway on the opposite side of the door.

Sulley stepped inside the living room, turned on some lights and opened the curtains - and noticed that Randall wasn`t on the couch tonight; and neither were his bed-sheets. Was that a good sign? Sulley couldn`t tell, but he got a bad feeling.

He went into the kitchen, still no sign of Randall. He opened the fridge, and his worries grew; the microwave dinners hadn`t been touched.

With a fear that Randall had starved to death during the weekend, Sulley hurried into the lizard`s bedroom; and found the habitant still in bed, covered up in both his usual sheets as well as two extra blankets.

For a second, Sulley wondered whether the other part was still alive or not; he lay so still. The blue monster carefully reached out his hand, ready to poke the sleeping one to check, when the lizard suddenly rolled over. Sulley was startled yet relieved, and his instincts caused him to pull his arm back from underneath Randall immediately, causing the lizard to wake up;

Randall stretched, yawned and gazed at his guest with eyes that were barely open and still full of sleep – as well as confusion; "I guess there`s no escaping you, is there, Sullivan..?"

Sulley was frightened. Something was _seriously _wrong here, Randall should have been a lot angrier; he had just woken up with his rival`s hand in his bed, tucked _underneath _him. Sulley figured the other was probably drowsy from the lack of food, but could that really change someone like _this_?

He looked at the other monster for a long time. Randall glared back at him, and not a word was spoken. It made Sulley even more scared; the normal Randall would probably have chosen this as a good moment to tell him to _get out_.

Just like yesterday, Sulley was the one to break the silence. He had a hard time finding something useful to say, and landed on the only thing he thought made sense;

"Why haven`t you been eating..?"

"Not in the mood…" Randall closed his eyes again.

"Randall, you _have_ to eat". Sulley placed his hand on Randall`s shoulder, and was surprised that Randall didn`t pull it away. He shook the other carefully to wake him up properly.

"I told you, I`m not in the mood". Randall opened his eyes again, and his voice regained its familiar, grumpy tone. But he didn`t pull Sulley`s hand away.

Sulley paused and took a closer look at the thin creature on the bed; he looked, if possible, even worse than he had done before the weekend. He placed his other hand on the lizard too, and forced him up in a sitting position. _That_ finally caused Randall to pull away from his visitor`s touch, but he remained in the seated position as he listened to what Sulley had to say;

"Listen, Randall, there`s a word for what you`re experiencing right now; you`re depressed".

"Am not". Randall didn`t even bother to lift his gaze.

"Are too. You sleep all day, you don`t eat and you seem to have lost the will to live".

"Have not".

Randall`s monotone answers only caused Sulley to be more sure in his case; the lizard had caught a depression. He sat down on the bed as he continued;

"If you had the will to live Randall, you would have been out there living your life right now..!"

"This _is_ my life right now, Sullivan. It`s what I do; I sleep. I have nothing better to do".

"This is nothing to live for..!"

"So I have nothing to live for, then…"

Randall`s words sent shivers down Sulley`s spine; did he just say he had nothing to live for?

"You have a lot to live for, Randall. You have -" Sulley desperately tried to find something that could convince Randall he had a reason to stay alive; "…you have a great sister and a wonderful nephew".

No response. Clearly Sophie had meant what she had said about Randall not being close to them anymore. Sulley bit his lip as he went over to the window and opened the curtains, trying to come up with something else Randall could live for; it was surprisingly hard to think of something.

Outside, the moon was up, and its light fell on Randall`s face. He squinted as Sulley finally found something; "…you have friends".

"No, I don`t". Randall`s contribution to the conversation surprised Sulley. Not just the fact that he actually talked now, but what he had said; Sulley had already guessed that Randall didn`t have too many friends, but he never thought he would _admit_ it. At least not to _him_.

"You _have_ friends, Randall..!" Sulley went back across the room and faced the other again, whose answer was to turn away. The hairy monster sat back down on the bed beside him and said, in his calmest, most comforting voice; "You have me".

"You`re not my friend." Randall spoke to the wall.

"Well, I must admit, I`ve never watched us as particularly close, but… I`ve never disliked you, either..! Until - Well, you know when…But when we were working together, I did consider you to be my friend – of some sort..!"

Randall didn`t turn around. He stared at the wall as he tried to recall something in the back of his head, something he had heard Sulley tell Sophie when they had been over last week, when they didn`t know he was there; _"I don`t hate him"_. Sulley had told his sister that he didn`t hate him. And he had said it with such compassion and truth to his voice, and although Randall had been shaking with anger when he heard it, he had believed him. And he sort of believed him now.

"Do you hear me, Randall?" Sulley`s voice pulled Randall back to the moment. "I`m your friend. You have a friend. And you have a sister and a nephew; you have a lot to live for!"

Randall didn`t know what to say. He didn`t know whether he wanted Sullivan as a friend. He didn`t know what to do. Luckily, he didn`t have to think about it; Sulley pulled him off the bed and started talking again;

"And you`re going to start living again right now, we`re going outside for a walk! You need some fresh air; it will increase your appetite! Come on, get up!"

He pulled Randall to his feet, and the purple monster felt dizzy as he stood up properly for the first time in a while; the room spun so much that he had to reach out a hand to lean on Sullivan for a moment, even though it was like poison to his pride.

* * *

Within half an hour, Sulley and Randall were out in the streets of Monstropolis. Snow had started to fall again, but much more gentle and graceful now; the moon could still be glimpsed behind the clouds, but Sulley guessed it wouldn`t take too long before it would be covered up. He walked at normal speed, but had to slow down constantly, as the other was falling behind; he wasn`t exactly in the shape of his life…

They fought their way through the snow through street after street without running into anyone; it didn`t surprise Sulley - who else would be out on a night like this? They walked through the empty park. Randall fell behind, Sulley waited; not a word was spoken for a long time.

"When did you get back here, Randall..?" As Sulley had stopped to wait for Randall to catch up for what felt like the hundredth time, he thought it was time to break the silence.

"When you were at my place with Sophie, I had only been there for a day." Randall stopped next to Sulley to catch his breath, eyes on his feet.

"So you`ve been back for less than a week, then..!"

"I would have come sooner if I could. The human world is no place for a monster; you should know better than anyone that a monster can`t stay there for too long… Right..?" Randall looked directly at Sulley for the first time that day.

The blue monster let out a gentle laugh; "Yeah, you`re right… You`re absolutely right..!"

A new period of silence fell between the two as they started walking again. There was no need to talk. But after a while, Randall surprised the other with another break from the silence;

"The first thing I remember after being thrown through the door is waking up in a swamp with aches all over my body… I couldn`t even stand up".

Sulley looked at Randall; he could hardly believe it. Was he going to tell him what happened? He had been waiting for this for days..!

"Then I spent a month or so staring at closet doors at night, waiting for scarers to enter through them…"

"But the factory was closed down in that period…" Sulley couldn`t help but interfere.

"So I figured. I eventually got back here by slump; it was this one night when I planned to…" Randall stopped talking for a while, afraid to reveal his original plan to Sullivan; "To…to drown myself…" A little cough came out as a pathetic attempt to hide the statement; "However, just as I walked by a house, I saw Sanderson…"

Sulley felt another chill travel down his spine; Randall had planned to kill himself?

"…and he left the door open just long enough for me to enter… so in a way… I guess you can say Sanderson saved my life that night… That pathetic fool, he finally did something right, and he probably doesn`t even know about it…"

Randall looked down at his feet again and stopped, regretting the fact that he had allowed himself to be carried away and tell Sullivan about what happened. He shouldn`t have done that.

Sulley stopped too, but he didn`t look at Randall. And when he spoke, he looked in another direction;

"I never should have thrown you through that door…"

"I don`t blame ya. I tried to kill you. If it was _me_, I would have thrown _you_ through; even if you _hadn`t _tried to kill me..!"

Sulley turned to face Randall again; "I wish I could have talked to you earlier; before things turned out bad for you".

For a moment, Randall and Sulley were face to face. It was snowing heavier now. The lizard looked away quickly, and continued to stare at his own feet as he spoke again; "I want to go home now".

"Sure…"

They turned around and headed back for Randall`s apartment, whit the snow falling all around them.

* * *

**What do you think? I had this song on my mind while writing the last scene, **_**Når himmelen faller ned**_** (**_**When the sky`s falling down**_**). It has such a sad yet beautiful touch to it, and it really inspired the chapter. It is about snow, and how it can force cities down to their knees without using any weapons – and how everything seems to slow down when it starts to snow… I just wanted to share it with you:)**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please, **_**please**_** leave a review and tell me what you think! Knowing your opinions really helps me out when I`m working with the next ones:)**

**I think my next chapter will be ready in the middle of next week – I`ll try my best, but I have a lot to do for the coming days. Please stayed tuned, it`s coming:) Promise!**

**Enjoy the rest of your weekend!**

**Love,**

_**AutumnnPrincess**_


	10. Chapter 10: Coming Clean

**Hi!**

**Sorry about the wait, I`ve been really busy lately..! But now the new chapter`s finally ready, and I can`t wait to share it with you! I really hope you`ll like it *smiles***

**The new chapter starts somewhat where the last one ended, and it took me a while to figure out where I wanted to go with it. Sulley and Randall are beginning to know each other a bit better now, and I seriously can`t wait for their relationship to evolve! Still, they are barely friends yet, and they both have a long way to go; but I feel they`ve both started the journey..! **

**Mike is an important part of this chapter too, and I`ve made him very supportive to Sulley; they are best friends, and he should act that way.**

**Here`s the new part of the story, I hope you will all enjoy it! :D**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Coming Clean**

Former co-workers and rivals James P. Sullivan and Randall Boggs sat side by side in the second one`s couch, tired from their late-afternoon walk in the snow, eating some microwave-dinners the first one had prepared for them. No words passed between the two, but none of them paid much attention to the movie on the TV either; they were both deeply engaged in their own thoughts.

Sulley looked over at Randall every once in a while to see how the lizard was doing, and was pleased to notice that he actually ate the food he had made him; the walk seemed to have done him good. Sure, he still didn`t look healthy, by far, but at least he sat up straight for a change.

Outside, during their walk, Randall had told Sulley that he had planned to drown himself when he was trapped in the human world. Did he still think about hurting himself? Sulley was worried about it; earlier that evening the lizard had also told him that he had nothing to live for and that he had no friends. Those could be reasons to still think about suicide, couldn`t they? He took another glimpse at the scaly monster, who seemed to be buried in thoughts of his own.

Randall was still regretting telling Sullivan what had happened to him in the human world; he`d let himself get carried away, and was angry for allowing himself to do so – why on earth did he do it? Having the big, hairy troll over for some sort of dinner for the second time in four days made him angry too, but not even near the anger-level he felt towards himself for telling him that he had planned to kill himself; Sullivan would probably never let him out of sight now…

The lizard took another bite of his dinner, and swallowed it almost without chewing; this clearly wasn`t the kind of food to eat if you wanted a great gastronomic experience. Although Sullivan had only made him dinner twice, Randall had already drawn the conclusion that he was a terrible cook; burned pancakes and microwave-nonsense really wasn`t the lizard`s cup of tea. However, this was probably his punishment for not being in the mood to cook for himself – either that or his motivation to start doing so again…

After they`d finished their meal, the two monsters remained seated to watch the rest of the movie – although none of them knew what it was about. Randall had decided to himself that watching it still was better than talking, and luckily, it appeared as Sullivan had thought the same.

The purple monster hardly registered what was happening on the screen in front of him; he was still too busy thinking about what he had told Sullivan earlier, and not to mention what Sullivan had told _him_. That he had considered him to be his friend when they were working together. Randall had never thought of Sullivan as anything else than a stupid rival who always got in his way, and he still didn`t view him as a buddy; but something was different now. Having him over today felt weird enough, sure; but not as bad as it had done last week. He avoided to look at the other, the so-called friend, and chose to remain silent; he had nothing to say to him, anyway.

Once the movie ended after about twenty minutes, Randall finally looked over at his guest, but without meeting his gaze; now was probably the time to say something;

"I think you should go home now".

The blue monster had to smile at the awkward utterance; the lizard`s way of being was rude and impolite, but there was something to it that was sort of funny, almost cute – he really had no clue on how to entertain guests.

However, Sulley was overbearing and decided Randall was sort of right, too;

"Yeah, it`s actually getting quite late". He got up from the couch, and Randall did the same. The purple monster was still not looking at the other as he continued;

"And you have work tomorrow."

"Mmmm…" Sulley chose not the tell Randall that he had actually changed his plans for tomorrow. Instead, he told him only a part of the truth;

"I`m coming back tomorrow to see how you`re doing, Randall".

"You don`t have to; I`m fine".

"No, you`re not". Sulley looked at his new friend, who tried his best to avoid eye-contact. "You need someone to look after you right now; you`ve been suicidal, things like that aren`t fixed in a day".

He took hold of Randall`s shoulder, and finally managed to look him in the eyes; "I`m coming back, and I`m going to help you get better".

"But I don`t want -"

"Randall; I`m coming over".

That was final, and Randall understood that the decision had been made. Whether he wanted it or not, his new "friend" was going to nurture him back to good health; he shivered at the thought as he pulled away from Sullivan`s touch and walked him to the door.

Sulley stepped out into the hallway, said goodbye - and was pleased with the fact that today, the lizard actually closed the door normally after he`d left. He let out a sigh, and was thankful that Randall seemed to be over his I-hate-you-so-much-I`ll-slam-the-door-in-your-face-state. That was a big change for Randall, and a huge step in the right direction.

* * *

The snowing had stopped when Sulley reached his own building. He had chosen to walk all the way home, to get a little extra time to come up with something good to tell Mike; he realized that he had to tell him everything about the situation with Randall, but he had difficulties with finding a way to say it.

He lingered on how he was going to spill the news as the elevator brought him up to his own floor and while he walked through the hallway to the apartment he shared with Mike; once he finally reached it he took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped inside.

"Sulley! I was getting worried about you, big guy!"

Mike`s cheerful voice didn`t quite fit Sulley`s expectations; he had expected his best friend to be angry with him for letting him down during lunch, and probably for other things, too – Mike always managed to find something to pick on. But now the little green monster stood there in front of him with an ear-to-ear smile, offering him a cup of coffee – the situation instantly made Sulley insecure. What was going on?

For a moment, all the blue monster did was stand foot, still with the door open, and stare at Mike with his mouth slightly open. The smile decreased a bit in the green one`s face, as he took a step closer to Sulley and waved his hand in front of the other`s face in an attempt to make contact;

"Sulley..? Hello? Are you just gonna stand there? Come on in, I have to talk with ya!"

Sulley eventually closed the door and went over to his best friend with a rather defensive attitude, accepting the coffee being so kindly offered;

"Mike, look -" The blue one thought it was probably best to come clean with things as soon as possible, and started with an apology; "I`m sorry about earlier today, I didn`t mean, well, I meant – but – I didn`t… I… I don`t -"

"Sul, Sul – It`s okay!" Mike lifted his hands to stop the words coming out from his friend`s mouth, and his face re-gained the big smile; "I figured it out!"

"You did?"

"Yeah, sorry for giving you a hard time today; I didn`t think of it then".

"You… Wait a second, _what_ didn`t you think of..?"

"Come on, Sul..!" Mike placed his hands on his hips, and frowned at Sulley`s clueless expression;

"Don`t pretend you don`t know what I mean; Sophie! You were with Sophie this afternoon, weren`t ya?" The green monster smirked as he went on;

"It`s okay, I totally understand why you don`t wanna come out with it and tell everyone at work yet – it`s all brand new and exciting, and you wanna keep it to yourselves -" Sulley`s expression didn`t change, except from his chin, which fell a little further down. "- I remember what it felt like when I started dating Celia and we fell in love -"

"What?!" Sulley finally got to his senses as the meaning of Mike`s words began to sink in; "I`m not in love with Sophie!"

"Of course you`re not in love with her, you`ve only just met her! What you have is a crush! And I can totally see why, she`s really sweet! Okay, she`s still Randall`s sister, but like I said, I`ll let that pass – she`s very pretty, and seems like a nice girl, and -"

"I don`t have a crush on her, either!" Sulley started to sound kinf of desperate; "And it wasn`t _her_ I was with this afternoon!"

"It wasn`t? But I was so sure!" Mike`s smile decreased; "Then who _were_ you with..?"

Sulley placed his hand on his shoulder and escorted him over to their sitting area;

"I think we should sit down for a while, Mike… I have to tell you something."

"Jeez..! What did you do? Kill someone?"

"No! No, no, no… It`s nothing like that… Mike – do you remember last week, when I told you about Randall?" Sulley sat down in his chair and used his hands to tell Mike to sit down, too.

"…I`d almost managed to forget about it, but thanks for reminding me..!" Mike sat himself down, and the smile on his face had now been replaced with a frown.

"Mike; I went over to visit Randall today".

Mike just stared back.

"Mike? I`ve been looking after Randall in his apartment since I left work today. I was there on Friday, too. And on Thursday night – even though you told me not to; I`m sorry". There. The words were said; quick and harshly, like ripping off a band aid.

Mike was still looking at his friend, without a word; this was probably one of his longest periods without talking ever.

"Mike? I`m sorry – I should have told you. If you`d seen him, you`d understand; he`s not doing so good. He`s depressed, he hardly eats, and I`m really worried about him".

Mike had finally gotten back his ability to speak, and glared at the blue one with an accusing expression;

"Why are you worried about him? You hardly know him, why is he suddenly _your_ responsibility?"

"I… Actually don`t know… I just feel sorry for him, and I want to help him – make him feel better… I`m the only friend he`s got."

Mike rested his eye on his best friend for a long time. Eventually, his facial expression softened a bit from Sulley`s last utterance;

"The only friend he`s got, huh..? I didn`t know you guys were friends."

"We weren`t, but… I think we are _now_."

"Does _Randall_ think so?"

"I think he _will_".

Mike leaned back in his chair and said noting for a long time. Sulley felt a little uncomfortable, but relaxed when Mike eventually gave him a teasing grin;

"You know Sul… Others find themselves an old car or something as a project to fix up, not another monster..!"

Sulley couldn`t help but laugh; "Well, I`m not gonna fix him up, I`m just gonna… help him find a reason to live".

"Oh, so _that`s_ it? Fine! You`ll have additional work for a while, then; call me in a couple of years, when you have an afternoon off!"

"Mike…"

"Okay, I`m sorry – I just find it a little funny; I mean, who would have guessed? You`re friends with Randall! I`ve never seen the guy with friends!"

"Exactly..!"

"And I can`t imagine him being depressed! How`s he like when he`s not – well – _Randall_?"

Sulley gave it a thought;

"He`s… Depressing..!"

"Sounds like fun…"

Mike`s eye narrowed as he sat back up in his chair; he still wasn`t a big fan of Randall. However, he cared about his best friend, and if this was important to Sulley, it was partly his case as well.

"I wish you had told me sooner… Are you going back there tomorrow?"

"Yeah; I`m going to spend the day with him, so I`ll take some time off from work".

"Who`s gonna be in charge at work then?" Hope rose in Mike`s voice and his eye widened.

"Terrie".

"Oh…"

"But I think there`s a chance she`ll need an assistant..!" Sulley smirked at the green monster.

"Great! Can`t wait! Ummm, for Randall to recover, I mean..! Hey, speaking of which, are you going to spend all of Wednesday and Thursday with him too? Are you taking more days off work?"

"One day at the time, Mike..!"

"Sure… How `bout Friday?"

"_Mike_".

Mike eventually calmed down and Sulley praised the silence that slowly filled their living room. He took a sip of the coffee his best friend had made him, only to discover it had turned cold; he got up with a sigh to make some more, and picked up the pizza-menu on his way to the kitchen – he was getting hungry again, too.

* * *

**Chapter 10..! I hope you liked it. **

**What did you think? About Sulley and Randall being friends (or something like that)..? About Mike? About my writing? Please let me know, I really appreciate all of your meanings; it helps me continue the story:)**

**I am going away on holiday for the coming week, but I think I`ll still manage to update the story from my iPad on Thursday or Friday – hopefully. If I can`t, the chapter will be out when I get back, next Sunday. In chapter 11, Randall and Sulley are going to spend an entire day together, and we`ll see Rex again! :)**

**I`m planning to write a lot while I`m away, and things are getting interesting in the future chapters. First of all, we have the evolution of the relationship to look forward to, but there are other things coming, too – Rex is going to play a big part in the future chapters, for instance. I hope you will all stay tuned and follow the story on:)**

**That`s all for now, take care!**

_**AutumnnPrincess**_


	11. Chapter 11: The Caretaker

**Hi!**

**Guess what? I finished my new chapter early! Yay! I hope you`re up for it :D**

**It`s a little longer than the previous ones, and I have to say that this is perhaps one of the chapters I like the most this far; we`re beginning to notice small hints of a crush here, Rex is in it, and Randall is slowly opening up to Sulley..! I hope you will like it too, and please tell me if you do (or if you don`t – in that case I`ll do my best to improve)..!**

**Anyway, I don`t think there`s much more to say about what`s waiting below… Read, review, enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Chapter 11: The Caretaker**

"Sullivan!"

Randall`s loud cry filled the little hall in the apartment, and the lizard glared harshly at the blue monster who walked through his door; it wasn`t hard to tell he was angry;

"Will you _please_ explain yourself?!"

"What..?"

Sulley put up an innocent face in order to convince Randall that he didn`t know what he meant; although he knew all too well why the scaly monster was so upset.

However, before Randall got to say anything else, Mrs Lorenzo appeared behind him in the living room-door with a big smile;

"Good morning, Mr Sullivan! Randy and I have been up for two hours already; we`ve cleaned the kitchen and made tea! Do you want some?"

"Sure..!" Sulley smiled at the old lady before taking another look at Randall; the lizard looked furious as he leaned a little closer to the blue one, whispering something Sulley interpreted as _"We need to talk"_.

Sulley slowly moved his gaze over to the old lady again; "You just go ahead to the kitchen, Gladys; we`re coming!"

The prune-resembling monster turned around and rounded the corner, and in the second she was out of sigh, Randall grabbed hold of Sulley`s fur and pulled him closer;

"Who are you to hire me a babysitter?! She`s been here all night!"

"I know; I asked her to look after you before I left the building last night! You`ve been suicidal, it wouldn`t be right of me to leave you all on your own! Besides, I thought you liked her..!"

"She sat by my bed!"

"You`re not supposed to be alone..!"

"She sang me a lullaby!"

Sulley had to bite his lip in order to keep himself from bursting out with laughter from Randall`s last statement; "I… I`m sorry..! I`ll tell her to be more discrete tonight".

"She`s not staying here tonight!"

"Yeah, she is. She`ll be here whenever I`m away; like I said, you can`t be on your own right now".

Randall growled as he let go of the blue one`s fur;

"Really..? For how long are you planning to keep this arrangement going, may I ask?"

"Until you`re better and I can trust you".

Randall opened his mouth to say something, but Sulley beat him to it;

"And relax, she`s not gonna spend all of today with you. She`s going back to her own place after tea; I`m here now".

"_Some_ improvement…" Randall hissed ironically; "And speaking of which, why aren`t you at work? It`s eight thirty!"

"I took the day off to be with you..!"

"What? Why on earth did you bother? You`ll get in trouble with the management!"

"Well…no." The blue monster put up a shy grin; "I sort of _am_ the management now..!"

Randall`s face gained a look Sulley guessed had to be the expression of someone who had just learned that Christmas had been cancelled;

"You`re the _what_..?"

"Are you boys coming? Tea`s ready!" the interrupting voice came from the kitchen, and Sulley hurried to push Randall ahead in its direction;

"I`ll tell you over tea, Randall".

"Great, I can`t wait…" the lizard rolled his eyes, but followed the furry monster into the kitchen without putting up a fight. He figured it would probably have been a lost case, anyway…

* * *

An hour had passed since Gladys Lorenzo had gone back to her own apartment, and Randall had spent every second of it in the corner of the couch, pretending Sullivan wasn`t there. He was still angry with him for hiring the old lady to look after him, and ever since Sullivan had told him all about the "new" Monsters Inc., he`d been angry about that, too. Randall didn`t like the idea of Sullivan being in charge, and he _really_ didn`t like the idea of the factory being changed into some sort of a circus; no matter if it was successful or not.

"Okay Randall, time to lighten up..!" Sullivan entered the room and sat down next to the purple figure, whose answer was to turn his head the other way and stare at the wall.

Sulley tried to keep a serious tone to his voice, but faced some serious difficulties; the lizard was acting like a little child, and in situations like this, he appeared to be at the same maturity level as his three-year-old nephew – Sulley couldn`t help it; he found this particular trait of family resemblance extremely amusing.

"Randall, seriously; cheer up -" He chuckled; "It`s not the end of the world."

When Randall didn`t respond, the blue monster decided it was time to change the subject;

"What do you wanna do today?"

"Nothing".

"Well, we`ll be bored, then".

"_I`ll_ be bored".

"_We _will;I`m gonna be here until tonight, remember".

"Nobody asked you to".

"Well, _you_ sort of did, when you showed me you`re not able to take care of yourself..!"

Randall couldn`t come up with a good answer to that one; it occurred to him that in an incredibly annoying way, Sullivan was right – this whole situation was basically his own fault. He could just strangle himself.

"Get up now; if you can`t think of anything to do, I`ll do the thinking for both of us!" Sullivan got up from the couch and gestured that the lizard should do the same; "It`s a nice day, we should start with a walk – come on!"

Since the scaly monster didn`t respond, the hairy one pulled him up from the couch and escorted him towards the front door; and before Randall knew it they were out on the street again - on a morning stroll in the nice winter weather.

* * *

The sidewalks had been cleared for snow, but a thick, white blanket was still covering the rooftops and the small lawns in between the buildings in Randall`s neighbourhood. The city was quiet; most of its citizens were at work, and the majority of monsters who were out walking were the elderly. Sulley looked at them, and chuckled to himself as he thought about Randall`s neighbours; the lizard surely hadn`t chosen to live in the most lively part of town.

The purple monster walked a couple of steps behind the blue one, wearing a woollen scarf as a protection from the icy wind. He had no idea where they were going, but it wasn`t like he cared anyway; he had nowhere he had to be and nothing he had to do, and in a way it felt sort of good to just follow along, not knowing what to expect. But he wished Sullivan could walk a little slower; Randall was still weak from going too long without eating, and he had a hard time trying to keep up with the blue monster. However, his pride kept him from asking the other to slow down and wait for him; that would have been too embarrassing.

* * *

The two monsters eventually entered the park and walked down the little road that stretched all the way through it; it was like a winter wonderland in there. There were no tall buildings or busy streets, so there were bigger areas were the snow could gather. There were also small stands selling coffee or hot chocolate, an ice-covered pond were one could ice-skate, and a steep hill which was filled with happy children playing and sleigh-riding in the snow.

Sulley tried to come up with something good to say about the scenery to Randall (as it was really the time to say something after nearly an hour of complete silence between the two), but just as he thought of something he was interrupted by a loud, happy voice;

"Ulley!"

He turned his head towards the hill and noticed Rex at the bottom of it; he was there with some of the children from the dayscare and a teacher Sulley didn`t know, and at the moment, he was waving at Sulley with three hands and holding on to his sledge with a fourth.

The blue monster was about to go over there and say hello, when he suddenly remembered who stood beside him; Rex`s uncle. He turned around and looked at Randall, who seemed to have frozen to the ground, eyes on the little orange monster a few meters away. He looked terrified.

"Are you okay..?"

"He`s coming over".

Sulley turned the other way again and saw Rex running towards them;

"It`s okay, Randall – I`ll take care of it!"

That was all he reached to say before Rex approached them with a big grin;

"I missed you, Ulley! Have you missed me? You`we ma best fwiend!"

"Sure, sure..!" The hairy monster took one last look at Randall to see how he was doing before he got down on his knees to greet Rex with a hug and a friendly hello. Rex was obviously happy to see him again, and babbled on about everything as usual. And as usual, Sulley didn`t understand half of it;

"Did you see me I slesh down thewe? Is _high_! I`m vewy bwave, you think I`m bwave? I ate cake! A you bwave, Ulley? You`we ma best fweind! Who`s _that_?"

The little monster suddenly stopped talking and pointed at his uncle, who didn`t seem to know what to do; he just looked at Sulley with eyes that expressed anxiety and despair, and the blue one felt a ray of sadness strike his heart – Rex didn`t even know who Randall _was_.

"That`s… My friend". Sulley said eventually, placing a hand on Rex`s shoulder as he tried his best to explain; he didn`t want to be the one telling Rex his uncle was back from banishment – that would probably result in a rather awkward conversation with Sophie tomorrow. Instead he just smiled and went on;

"He`s my friend, and his name is… George". Randall raised an eyebrow.

"Showge", Rex mimicked with a grimace, looking at the purple monster who kind of reminded him of his mum. However, he didn`t think about it for very long; there was too much going on around him.

"Ulley, wanna twy ma slesh?" he held his sledge up to Sulley, who tried to talk him out of it by making gestures with his hands;

"No, I don`t think… I`m busy, I`m out walking with your unc – I mean George, and -"

"Please!"

Sulley took another glimpse at Randall, who looked as if the entire world had just landed on his shoulders. The blue monster took a couple of steps towards him, leaned in close and whispered;

"Look _George_, I don`t think I can get out of this without upsetting him - do you mind if I just take _one_ ride with him..? It`s easier that way"

"Go ahead". Randall`s voice was almost a whisper too, and he avoided Sulley`s eyes as usual. Also, he tried not to look at his little nephew, who waited impatiently for Sulley to slide down the hill with him.

* * *

Seconds later, Sulley was on his way up the hill, dragging Rex on the sledge behind him. The little monster was already laughing with joy, but the blue one felt straight out terrible. He felt an ache in his heart for Rex`s uncle, who waited for them at the bottom of the hill with pure grief written all over his face; Sulley thought it was a wonder none of the other monsters in the park noticed his condition and called the mental ward.

Once they reached the top, Rex commanded Sulley to sit down on the sledge with him, and when he did so, the little monster gently placed himself in the furry one`s lap;

"Lotta speed!" He turned his head and looked at his passenger with anticipation, and Sulley used his arms to create just what Rex was asking for; speed. Lots of it.

The ride was short, but surprisingly entertaining; Sulley laughed and shouted with Rex, and there were even a couple of times when he got so eager he almost fell of the sledge. When they were safe back down again, he got up and brushed the snow off his fur; only to receive a new request from Rex;

"Again!"

After making sure Randall was okay with it, Sulley rode down the hill with an ecstatic Rex again. And again. And again. The little monster`s jolly yells echoed in his ears, and once they reached the bottom for the seventh or eighth time, the blue one suddenly made a decision.

He got up, walked over to Randall and pulled him over to Rex and the sledge;

"You know what Rex; I think George wants a ride, too!"

"Don`t you dare..!" Randall whispered with a flaming glare.

It didn`t help much, though; Sullivan pushed the lizard ahead up the hill, with Rex safely placed on the sledge behind them.

"It will do you good, Randall!" Sulley had lowered his voice to a whisper to make sure Rex wasn`t catching up; "It`s fun..!"

"We`ll see about _that_…" Randall growled back. He probably would have said something more, but couldn`t make it; he was short of breath from walking up the steep hill. And he became, if possible, even more annoyed as Sulley smirked at him;

"Who knows, maybe it will improve the shape you`re in, too..?"

* * *

When they were at the top once again, Sulley sat down on the sledge. Rex took place in his lap as usual, eager for another round – then they both turned to look for the lizard, who needed a little more time to reach the top of the hill; and when he did, he was breathing rather heavily as he walked over to the two monsters that were waiting for him.

"You`ll have to sit in the back, George!" the blue monster said, looking at Randall, who realized he had no choice here. He sat down behind Sullivan, arms hanging loosely by his sides;

"I think you better hold on". Sulley was still looking at him, and the lizard rolled his eyes and placed his upper set of arms carefully on the blue monster`s shoulders; how hard could it be to keep oneself from falling off of this thing?

Moments later, Sulley used his big arms to move the sledge towards the edge of the hill, and the three monsters started their way back down again; it went a lot faster this time, now that they had an additional passenger on board – even though Randall wasn`t the heaviest citizen of Monstropolis; particularly not these days.

Rex screamed with joy like before, and Sulley couldn`t help but laugh too; if not from the ride, then at least from the little monster`s enthusiasm – although all of this playing in the snow did bring back some joyous childhood memories. The blue monster tried to turn his head to see what Randall thought of the experience, but decided it was probably safer to look forward.

By the time they`d reached the middle of the hill, the speed had increased; in front of Sulley Rex was still laughing and shouting, and his loud, happy cries reminded the blue monster of Boo. He remembered how she had been laughing exactly like this every time Mike hurt himself, and as Sulley started thinking of her he felt a cloud of sadness come over him.

Luckily, as they rode over a small bump that caused the sledge to jump, something suddenly distracted Sulley from the thoughts and pulled him back to the moment - he suddenly felt another set of arms gripping around him from behind, clinging on tight; Randall held on to him with all four of his arms now, and in a very peculiar way it made Sulley`s stomach jump. He was happy the lizard finally started to trust him, but he couldn`t explain the weird feeling in his own gut…

"Look out!"

The loud shriek caused Sulley to stop thinking once again and regain his focus on what was happening around them; they were about to hit a couple of female monsters with baby-carriages, and the blue monster turned the sledge by instinct, causing it to crash into a big pile of snow.

Everything went white; white, cold and wet.

* * *

Sulley crawled, trying to find out which way that was up; he found he had Randall`s tail in his face and Rex`s feet on his chest, and snow absolutely everywhere. Eventually, he managed to dig his way out, and Randall`s head popped up beside him; and to Sulley`s surprise, the lizard grinned. However, he replaced it with a frown the second he noticed that Sullivan was watching him;

"Darn it Sullivan, are you trying to get us killed?" He coughed a couple of times and looked in another direction.

"I thought that was what you wanted..?"

"Very funny…" The lizard found his way out of the snow and brushed it off; he couldn`t remember the last time he rode a sledge, and had to keep his face away from Sullivan so that the blue monster wouldn`t see that he was actually struggling to hold back a smile – that would have been embarrassing.

"Again!" Rex finally made his way out from the snow and climbed onto Sulley`s back;

"Ulley, again! Again!"

"I`m getting tired -" Sulley`s answer brought out disappointment in Rex`s face, but the furry monster continued in a hopeful voice; "But maybe George will take you for a ride..?"

Sulley looked over at Randall, who turned around to meet his gaze - desperately indicating that this was a bad idea; he didn`t want to be alone with Rex.

Luckily for Randall, Rex`s teacher called for the little monster, telling him it was lunch-time. Sulley decided, much due to Rex`s prayers, that he and Randall could join the children for their meal, and eventually they all sat down together. Rex even shared his hot chocolate with _"Ulley"_, but he was less eager about sharing it with _"Showge"_; after all, he didn`t even know this guy he suddenly had to share his _"best fwiend"_ with.

The teacher who escorted the kids was newly hired at Monsters Inc., so, like Rex, she didn`t know who Randall was; Sulley was happy about that, and he could imagine Randall was, too – at least he looked relaxed at the moment.

* * *

After a long lunch-break, a couple of more rides down the hill, a sad goodbye to Rex (who had been crying) and a walk back home, Sulley and Randall made it back to Randall`s apartment in the afternoon; they were both exhausted, and (although Sulley`s weren`t showing) they both had rosy cheeks from spending all of those hours outdoors.

Once back inside, the blue monster made them dinner; at least he made the call for pizza. Randall sat the table, and eventually the duo sat down with their food, and it pleased Sulley to see how much Randall`s appetite had increased only from yesterday.

Silence was still awkwardly present between them, but Sulley was okay with it; Randall talked when he had something to say, and that was fine – besides, the furry monster guessed the lizard would open up a bit more once they got to know each other better. After all, only a few days had passed since he didn`t talk _at all_.

"I haven`t seen him since he was one year old, you know".

Sulley looked up; speak of the sun..! Randall had just said something, but the blue one wasn`t sure about what;

"Huh?"

"I haven`t seen him for two years".

"Who?"

"Rex". Randall looked down at his empty plate with a careless look on his face; it was as if he was talking about the weather.

"I figured it was long ago… He didn`t recognize you".

Randall fell silent again, and Sulley took another bite of his pizza-slice;

"Are you okay?"

"Sure… He`s not _my_ kid".

"He`s your nephew".

"How do _you_ know him?" Randall looked up and faced Sulley.

"Sophie… I`m friends with Sophie".

"I didn`t know that".

"I haven`t known her for long; I first met her the day we came here together. I gave her your belongings, and she wanted me to come with her. We`ve kept in touch after that, talked at work and stuff".

"I see".

Silence took over the living room again, until Randall, much to Sulley`s surprise, decided to speak once more, eyes back down at his plate;

"Does she know - Sophie - Have you told her… About _me_..?"

"No. Do you want me to?"

Randall looked at Sulley again, and for the first time during their conversation about the lizard`s family, the blue monster noticed there was sadness in the other`s eyes;

"I don`t think so. Not yet."

Sulley nodded; he understood.

They sat on the couch for yet another while, until they decided it was time to clear the table and load the dishwasher. Randall did it this time; he knew where things were going. Sulley had to chuckle at the lean, purple monster in the kitchen; he was such a neat freak (and apparently a control-freak too), and the furry one found himself looking at the other from the living room – it was good to see Randall in action, doing something else than mutter on the couch – or underneath his covers in bed.

After half an hour, Gladys Lorenzo knocked on the door; she was there for the _"evening shift"_. Before Sulley headed back home, all three of them had some tea together;

"I`ll have to go to work tomorrow, Randall". Sulley placed his teacup on the table;

"Are you going to be fine here with Gladys during the day? I`ll check in on you in the afternoon!"

"Sure…"

"I have some tasks for you tomorrow, Randy -" Mrs Lorenzo shot in; "You can help me do my groceries, and then there`s this nasty light bulb above my bathroom mirror – do you think you can fix it?"

Sulley chuckled; it sounded like Randall had work tomorrow as well.

Eventually, the blue monster got up from the table and headed for the door; Gladys removed the teacups and Randall followed Sulley out in the hallway. The purple one still had a frown on his face, but his mood and manner had really improved in the past few days. Today, he even said _"goodbye"_ as he closed the door; and Sulley felt weirdly warm inside as he headed back outside in the frosty city landscape.

* * *

**Okay… That`s it for now! What do you think? About the whole thing? Don`t hesitate to tell me, I`m eager to know what you guys think of what I do.**

**Thanks to Nekophy for giving me a little suggestion for the story; it`s taken into consideration, and Mike **_**will**_** visit Randall with Sulley in a couple of chapters! It`s a good idea, and I think it can lead to some good situations or conversations;)**

**I`m on holiday, but I`m still writing every day – I don`t know exactly when I`ll have the next chapter ready, but it will definitely be during this week; I hope you will all be back to read it:)**

**Oh, and by the way, what do you think of my new cover-picture for the story? Haha, it's terrible, it's like my third attempt ever to draw someone from MI, and I wanted to keep my own, personal touch to it XD But it's all I've got at the moment, so we'll have to settle with it until I've improved my Monsters Inc drawing skills;)**

**Take care!**

_**AP**_


	12. Chapter 12: Change of Plans

**Hi there! :)**

**Time for another update, hope you`re ready!**

**Thanks for the wonderful feedback on the previous chapter; I`m so glad you liked it! It`s always scary to publish a new part of the story, so I`m really relieved every time I receive kind reviews:) **

**Today`s chapter is probably a little sadder than the previous one, but it`s important in the development of Sulley and Randall`s relationship. Randall needs to be able to trust Sulley, and after this chapter he will. Yay! **

**I don`t think I have anything more to tell you before the actual chapter… So go ahead, read and review! See you at the bottom!**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Change of Plans**

The CEO of "new" Monsters Inc. returned to duty on Wednesday, after taking Tuesday off due to what he referred to as _family matters_. The rest of the week at work went by more or less as usual, with only a couple of minor exceptions; like George Sanderson falling onto a trolley of laugh-cans and causing them to fly around the laugh-floor and ruin a couple of doors, for instance.

The new routines had indeed began to settle at Monsters Inc., and the CEO had some fresh routines in his private life as well; he got up an hour earlier than before, and then Mike would drive him over to Randall`s apartment. Then Sulley used Sophie`s key to lock himself in, so that he could join Randall and Mrs Lorenzo for breakfast, checking if everything was alright with both of them. Eventually he would leave for work, leaving the lizard and the old lady to themselves for the day.

Sulley would then go back to the lizard`s apartment again in the afternoon after work, to join Randall for dinner and maybe take him out for a walk - before heading back home for Mike, who awaited him with supper – sometimes; it all depended on the green monster`s mood.

Sulley`s days were busy, sure, but the progress Randall was making made it all worth it. A week ago, the lizard had been avoiding all of the blue monster`s attempts to make contact and bombarded him with sofa-cushions once he sat foot inside his living room; now, however, the scaly one talked, ate, and – apparently - started to warm up to the idea of Sullivan being his friend. Sure, there were still matters Randall didn`t want to talk about, like feelings, Sophie, Rex or his past, but he could go on forever about different things that annoyed him – and Sulley found that was better than nothing.

* * *

Once Friday came and the weekend approached, Sulley joined Randall and Gladys for breakfast as usual, before leaving the odd duo to themselves and head on for the week`s last day of work; he couldn`t help but look forward to having a couple of days off duty now, as the week that would soon belong to the past had been rather exhausting.

It was still very cold outside, and once again the sky was clouding over; it wouldn`t surprise Sulley if there was more snow awaiting the citizens of Monstropolis. And just as he reached Monsters Inc., he noticed the first couple of fragile flakes gently dance down through the clear air; he hoped the city council was prepared this time.

As the furry monster entered the building that held his job, he ran into Mike, who was also on his way to work. The friends chatted for a little while (mostly about Mike`s plans for his next date with Celia, as usual), before they headed in separate directions for their different tasks.

* * *

As Sulley approached his office for the last time that week, he was pleasantly surprised by two familiar voices behind him;

"Ulley!"

"Sulley! Hi!"

He turned around to face Sophie and Rex, who were on their way to work and dayscare; as usual Rex wanted a hug from the blue monster, and Sulley made sure he got what he asked for. Sophie chuckled at the sight;

"Wow Sulley; You`ve really gotten yourself a fan, there..!"

"It`s mutual; He`s a great kid! Right, Rex?" Sulley looked from Sophie to Rex and then back at Sophie again as he spoke. Rex`s face lit up.

"Thanks for paying him this much attention, it means a lot to him – and to me". Sophie presented the other adult with a warm smile;

"After all, you`re the only male figure in his life at the moment, and -"

She suddenly stopped herself. Sophie didn`t want to talk about things like this in front of her young son, and lowered her voice as she continued;

"We can talk about it tonight, okay..?"

"Tonight..?"

For a moment, Sulley gazed absently on Sophie; until he slowly remembered – he had accepted the invitation to join Sophie and Rex for dinner tonight, and he had completely forgotten about it; he had been busy with both work and Randall the entire week, and – …_Randall_. He hadn`t told Randall (or Mrs Lorenzo, for that sake) that he couldn`t come to see them tonight; he had to call the old lady to hear if _she_ could spend the evening with the lizard now, and then –

"Sulley..?" Sophie looked at the blue monster with concern; "Are you okay..?"

The CEO eventually managed to pull himself back to the moment, and gave Sophie a light-hearted laugh as he spoke;

"Sure, sure..! I`ve been looking forward to this day all week..!" He lowered his gaze to look at Rex; "Especially to seeing your room!"

Rex grinned back at him and took hold of his hand.

"I`m glad to hear that – oh dear, look at the time; we have to go now, I`m running late -" Sophie excused herself; "I`ll see you tonight, then Sulley! Is seven okay?"

"Seven sounds good..!"

Sophie smiled, grabbed one of Rex`s hands and turned around to head for the dayscare. However, she turned on heel;

"Oh, I forgot; Rex told me he met you and your friend in the park the other day! Sounds like you guys had fun!"

Sulley`s stomach jumped, but he managed to pull a smile that he hoped looked normal;

"Yeah..! Yeah, that was… great..!"

"Once again, thanks for being so patient with my son, and for playing with him – even when you were with your friend..!"

Sulley smiled even wider to cover up his growing feeling of discomfort. Luckily, Sophie didn`t notice – she just returned his smile; "You`ll have to tell me all about it tonight!"

"Don`t worry, I will..!"

Sulley kept his fake, goofy smile on until Sophie was out of sigh; then he replaced it with a face reflecting the stress he felt on the inside at that moment. He had been hoping Sophie wouldn`t talk to him about Tuesday, when he and Randall had spent time with Rex; Randall didn`t want Sophie to know he was back, and Sulley was not a very good liar. This could get ugly.

* * *

The rest of the day went by without any big happenings. Sulley met Mike and the others for lunch, and chatted about this and that as usual; his friends had all forgiven him for turning them down on the quiz-night on Monday, and things were back to normal between the individuals in the group.

After lunch Mike headed back for the laugh-floor, and his best friend started walking back to his own office; both of them somewhat ready for the last half of the day. Before they went in separate directions, the green monster grabbed hold of the blue one and pulled him aside for a moment;

"So… In case I don`t see ya anymore today, I just wanted to wish ya luck; you`re ready for the big date now, then..?"

"Date?"

"With Sophie..?" Mike narrowed his eye; sometimes his friend was _really_ slow.

"It`s not a date! And I thought I told you I`m not into her..?"

"Well, she`s into _you_; and she will be even more so once she learns that you`re looking after her brother..!"

"I`m not gonna tell her about that, Randall doesn`t want me to!"

"Okay, okay… Maybe not today then, but eventually she _will_ find out about it, ya know – and then she`ll go completely crazy for ya; women love men with a soft side – just look at the way Celia looks at _me_".

Sulley was about to break in, but Mike didn`t allow him to. He held up his hands and gained a more serious facial expression; "Sulley; just give this a chance, will ya? Perhaps you don`t see it yet, but I`m thinking this girl could be good for ya. I`m your best friend, and I want you to be happy; and let`s face it, I`m not going to be around for ever, ya know..!"

"What?! Are you sick?" Sulley looked startled.

"No, silly; I`m talking about me and Celia! One day not far from now she will probably start begging to move in with me, and then you`ll be all on your own, and I don`t want that for you! That`s where Sophie comes in, someone like her would be perfect to keep you company..! And you`ll even get that lively kid as a part of the package..!"

The blue one opened his mouth to protest, but Mike went on – a little more compassionate now;

"Look, Sul; I _know_ it`s too early for you to say you`re in love with her, and you`re too slow to realize that you might be crushing; but give it a chance tonight, okay?"

Mike gave his best friend a big smile and a supportive pat on the arm, and before Sulley got the chance to answer him, the green monster was on his back to his shift; humming on an old love-song.

* * *

Sulley watched the snow fall outside his window as the clock approached five; he had been right this morning, there was definitely more snow on its way.

The CEO was getting ready to leave the factory. He planned to run a couple of errands before heading over to Sophie`s house, as he had figured out he should probably bring her a present when he came to visit; so for the last couple of hours, he had tried to decide what to buy her, and whether he should bring something for Rex as well. It was difficult, as he didn`t want to buy her something she could interpret as a declaration of love; but what could he get for a female friend who _wasn`t _a love interest..? Everything he had thought about so far could be misunderstood, and he didn`t want to buy her something completely off either, like office supplies.

Suddenly the phone rang in his office. Sulley was actually happy about it, as it gave him a longed-for break from his own mind. He had a hard time finding the phone in all the mess on his desk (as usual), but eventually he managed to follow the sound and locate it underneath a pile of paper;

"Hello..?" He answered like he would answer the phone at home, but quickly remembered where he was and hurried to add "James P. Sullivan, Monsters Incorporated!"

"Hello? Mr Sullivan..?" The voice on the other side of the line was squeaky and sounded old, and Sulley didn`t recognize it;

"Who is this?"

"It`s me".

Sulley was about to hang up, this was obviously someone who had dialled the wrong number in an attempt to reach a different Sullivan. Either that or someone was pulling him a prank;

"I`m sorry, but I think you have the wrong nu -"

"Isn`t this Mr Sullivan; Randy`s sweet friend..?"

Suddenly Sulley realized that the monster he was talking to was none other than Gladys Lorenzo, Randall`s neighbour and daytime-caretaker. And just as he realized, he started to worry;

"Gladys? Is everything alright?"

There was a long pause. Sulley`s concern grew, and he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to call Randall and Gladys and tell them that he couldn`t come over tonight. Just as he opened his mouth to break the news to the old lady, she beat him to it;

"Randy isn`t doing so good".

"What? What`s wrong?"

"I don`t know to be honest, he won`t tell me; he doesn`t talk at all. I think you`ll have to come over a little sooner tonight, to see if _you _can talk to him… Would you mind?"

Sulley`s heart started pounding. The furry monster made a quick decision - the only one he thought was the right one to make at that moment;

"I`ll be there as fast as I can".

He hung up the phone and hurried for the door; only to remember that he had to call Sophie and tell her the plans for tonight were changed. He ran back to his desk, grabbed the phone - and remembered he didn`t have Sophie`s cellphone-number. He then spent some time looking it up, feeling sweat gather on his back as he did (had his office always been this hot?), and once he found it he dialled the numbers with surprisingly clumsy fingers and waited impatiently for Randall`s sister to answer;

"Hello?"

"Sophie? It`s Sulley!"

"Hi!" Sophie`s tone was happy as usual, and that made it even more difficult for Sulley to break the news to her;

"Sophie..? I`m really sorry, but…" He took in a deep breath; "I can`t make it tonight".

"Is everything okay..?" Her voice gained a touch of worry, and Sulley tried his best to calm her down;

"I`m fine, it`s just… my… Aunt Gladys… She`s sick, and she needs help tonight..!"

"Oh my God, I`m so sorry..! Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, don`t you worry, it`s nothing serious… She just… Needs some company, that`s all… I`m really sorry, Sophie".

"Don`t be, it`s not your fault. Such situations aren`t for us to control..!" Her voice was as calm as ever, and Sulley thought about how much he appreciated it. Sophie continued;

"I`m fine with it Sulley, trust me – and if you want to, you can always come over at some other time..! Why don`t we talk on Monday, and come up with another day?" He could actually _hear _her smile.

"That would be great..! Thank you, and once again, I`m so -"

"Don`t be".

"Fine – thanks. See you on Monday, then. And say hello to Rex from me, I can`t wait to see him again!"

"I`m pretty sure that`s mutual..!" Sophie chuckled; "Take care, Sulley! Good luck with your aunt!"

"Thanks; Bye..!"

He hung up and took another deep breath; then he left the office and headed straight for Randall`s apartment.

* * *

"Hello?" Sulley closed the door behind him as he slowly entered the apartment he had come to spend a surprisingly big amount of time in lately;

"Randall? Gladys?"

The old lady met him in the door to the living room. She seemed a little nervous;

"I`m glad you`re here, Mr Sullivan".

"What`s happened?"

"I don`t know. Randy and I had a perfectly normal day; we went grocery-shopping, we cleaned out my fridge - such things. When we got back here, I started cleaning out that filthy cardboard box that have been placed on the living room-floor for days, and – suddenly he got all sad, and he`s been on the sofa ever since".

"I`ll talk to him; thanks for calling me." Sulley smiled at the old lady, and noticed that she looked a little tired; "Perhaps you want a break now?"

"I could use a nap," she replied. "Thank you Mr Sullivan; I`ll be back for the night-shift". She grabbed her purse, which _also_ seemed to resemble a prune, and went across the hall for her own apartment.

Sulley entered the living room and took in the familiar sight of the purple lizard on the couch. The blue monster felt a chill travel down his spine; Randall hadn`t looked this down since Sulley had first seen him after he came back around a week ago.

"Randall -" Sulley sat down beside him, not knowing what else to say. He looked at the other, before he moved his gaze over at the table; the things from Randall`s locker at work (that had been placed in the cardboard box until that day) where all placed there. Sulley looked at the different items, and didn`t see how any of them could possibly upset Randall in this way.

He looked back at the purple monster again, and noticed that he clung on to something in one of his hands; a little piece if folded paper, which Sulley recognized to be the one Sophie had almost unfolded the day he had given her the box. Curiosity took him over;

"What`s that?" he asked, pointing to the piece of paper.

When Randall didn`t answer, the blue monster took hold of his hand and gently removed the paper-sheet. He unfolded it, and found it was a picture; a picture of two monsters, a young adult and a child. He saw that the oldest one was a younger version of Sophie, and after a moment he also recognized the child; Randall. A young Randall Boggs in purple-framed glasses similar to the ones he had been wearing for a little time during college, who held on to his sister`s hand with a shy smile.

"So this is what you`re thinking about, then… Sophie?" Sulley tried his best to find words that wouldn`t do any more harm, and was almost scared to ask Randall questions. However, he had to get him to talk, so he went on in hopes that he would get a reply; "Do you miss her..?"

No answer.

"I understand if you miss her… She`s your family, and I`m sure she misses you too; you`re her brother. She loves you -" Sulley suddenly remembered what Sophie had told him a week ago: that she believed Randall thought she had replaced him with Rex; "She loves you, even though she has a child".

Randall blinked a couple of times, and Sulley felt more sorry for him than ever before; he had been through so much, and as an attempt to comfort, the blue monster placed his hand on top of one of Randall`s.

However, pity was not what the lizard wanted; he withdrew his hand as Sulley tried to take it in his own. He leaned the other way when the blue monster tried to lay his arm around him to comfort. He didn`t need the other`s touch; besides, his pride kept him from allowing himself to rest on someone`s shoulder, no matter how bad things got.

Luckily for Randall, Sullivan understood his demand for privacy and sat back. But his eyes still remained on the lean figure in the other part of the couch, who blinked and blinked and had troubles talking; Randall feared that if he did, his voice would crack and he would start crying – and that would have been unbearable.

"Randall". Sulley talked to him again as he saw his friend`s struggles; he reached out and placed his hand on the other`s shoulder - the only place of Randall`s body he was somewhat allowed to touch;

"It`s okay to cry".

Randall still didn`t answer; he just swallowed hard and avoided Sullivan`s gaze.

"You`ve been through a lot; crying is a normal way to respond". Sulley still didn`t move his gaze from the purple monster, and his hand remained on the scaly shoulder; "Just let go of it, Randall – it will make you feel better, I promise".

When the other monster still didn`t respond in any way, Sulley thought it was probably the time to suggest something else;

"Do you want to step outside for a while?"

Randall blinked a few more times before he finally said something – although his voice was merely a whisper;

"Yes".

* * *

Minutes later, the two monsters were outside in the cold weather together; it was still snowing, but the sidewalks had already been cleared. None of them spoke; Randall couldn`t, as his voice would probably break, and Sulley didn`t have anything wise to say. They just walked side by side for a long time, buried in their own thoughts, not even taking in the surroundings.

After nearly half an hour, Sulley thought it was time to break the silence;

"If you want me to, Randall… I can tell Sophie that you`re back. And that you`ll see her when you`re ready. If you miss her, I mean".

Randall stopped walking and looked at the other through the corner of his eye. Sulley continued;

"Do you want me to tell her?"

The lizard removed his gaze from Sullivan as he nodded slowly; he wanted his sister to know. He hadn`t thought about her for ages, until he finally saw her picture today; and now he was unable to keep her off his mind. It frustrated him; he didn`t want to miss her, but whether he liked it or not he had changed during the past few days, and now suddenly he did. He didn`t know how or why, but it made him feel weak and he hated it; so many things were different now. He could feel his eyes water just by thinking about it.

"It`s okay to cry".

He heard Sullivan`s voice right next to him, and that reminded him of another big change in his life; the guy he had spent nearly a lifetime hating was now someone he could call a friend. For the last week, Sullivan had spent all of his free time with him, in order to make him feel better. Randall still didn`t understand why someone would do that for him; especially Sullivan, who Randall had actually tried to kill a month ago. Due to that, Randall's first thought when the blue one came to visit had been that his intention was to arrest him. When that turned out not to be the case, he had thought his plan was to make fun of him. But now - now he didn`t know anymore. Sullivan had been good to him. It actually seemed like he truly cared, and Randall had a hard time taking it in.

Suddenly the lizard felt something hot running down his cheeks. _No_. No, not in front of someone; this was just too humiliating for words. Despite giving it his best shot, Randall was completely unable to keep the tears from falling; in fact, the more he tried to control them, the more they ran.

At first, the blue monster didn`t notice; it wasn`t until Randall let out a loud sob Sullivan turned his head and saw how tears covered the other monster`s face. But once he noticed, he didn`t hesitate; he reacted fast and on instinct, by pulling the crying one closer and put his arms around him. Sulley`s reaction led to a new sob from the purple one; nobody had held Randall like that since he was a child, when Sophie – _Sophie_ – a new sob.

Sulley could feel the lean body shake as he held around it; Randall was crying his heart out, and all the blue monster could do was to stroke his back and try to calm him down with clichés;

"It`s okay… It`ll get better… Let it out…"

Sulley didn`t know for how long they stood like that; maybe a minute, maybe ten – all he knew was that, despite the fact that Randall was so upset, it actually felt good. It felt good to be useful. It felt good to be able to comfort. It felt good to know that Randall trusted him enough to allow him to comfort him. And, although he didn`t fully understand it, it felt good just to hold Randall like this; it made Sulley feel… Warm.

* * *

The two monsters made it back to the scaly one`s apartment around half an hour later; the owner was doing better, it was as if the crying had lightened his mind a bit. He had never meant for Sullivan to see it, but now that the damage was done, he was actually fine with it; the CEO of Monsters Inc. was the only monster he could call his friend, and if anyone had to see him cry, Randall was glad it was him. The lizard felt safer around Sullivan now, and figured he probably wouldn`t tell anyone.

Mrs Lorenzo was waiting for them at Randall`s door with a face full of worry;

"I didn`t know where you boys were! Are you okay?"

"I`m feeling better…" Randall looked at the old lady as Sulley unlocked and opened the door; "I just needed to clear my thoughts".

"Good; I was worried about you, Randy". She followed the two male monsters into the apartment and headed straight for the kitchen; "Now, do you boys want some tea?"

"Thanks, but actually I should head back home," the blue one answered; "I`ve had a long day, and Mike`s probably lonely; I`ll come back tomorrow."

"Very well" Gladys said, disappearing in the kitchen-door, leaving the two males alone in the hall.

"Are you going to be fine here tonight, then?" Sulley looked at Randall with concern.

"Yeah - I think so".

"Like I said; I`ll come back tomorrow." The blue monster`s worry wouldn`t let go; "Are you sure you`re feeling alright?"

"I`m fine".

Sulley gave the lizard a smile as he let one of his hands gently brush against one of the other`s arms; he wished there was something more he could do to help him, but had no idea of what – Sulley didn`t know what it was like to be this depressed.

"At least I`m not alone," Randall eventually said. The statement surprised Sulley; it was the first time the lizard had admitted that he needed company.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"No. She`s okay…" Randall gestured towards the kitchen, where Gladys was making tea.

"Fine… Talk to you tomorrow, then. I`ll be here around noon; okay?"

"Yeah…"

Sulley opened the front-door and stepped back outside in the hallway. Just as he was about to turn his back and leave, Randall called out his name;

"Sullivan..?"

"Yeah?"

"I…" he lowered his gaze down to his own feet; "I… Thank you".

The words took Sulley by surprise; Randall had just thanked him for the first time. Ever. Despite being a little startled, the blue monster managed to send a warm smile in the direction of his newest friend in reply;

"You`re welcome, Randall".

* * *

…**and that`s it in ****this round! Hope you liked it!**

**I felt so good writing the end of the chapter; finally Randall views Sulley as his friend. It has taken him (and the story) a long time to get there, and luckily they will only grow closer from where they are now *blinks***

**In the next chapter, that I guess will be ready on Wednesday or Thursday, Mike will visit Randall with Sulley; I`m still not entirely sure how it will go, but our favourite eyeball will notice how his best friend acts around their former enemy;)**

**I think that`s all I have to say now… Remember to tell me what you think! About everything, I really appreciate it!**

**Enjoy your weekend, guys! :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Long time, no see

**Hi!**

**Omg, finally! I feel like I`ve been working on this chapter forever, as I just couldn`t figure out what Sulley, Mike and Randall was going to do when they spent a day together! Museum? Gym? Just hang out on the couch? I had such a hard time making a pick, and you can see what I eventually landed on below. I think it works; tell me if you agree or not;) **

**This is the chapter were Mike notices how Sulley acts around Randall; the crush is becoming clearer, and it will increase in the future chapters. I`m sorry to say that the kiss still is a few chapters away, but I can comfort you with this: after the first kiss, things will escalate quickly *blinks***

**I hope you`re up for a read now, please enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Long time, no see**

"You`re home rather early..!"

Mike narrowed his eye as the blue monster he lived with entered their apartment around 8.30; he hadn`t been expecting Sulley home until later in the evening (or tomorrow, maybe) after his big date with Sophie Boggs. Something wasn`t right here.

Sulley didn`t say anything at first, just stood foot in the hall while trying to come up with a good way to tell his best friend that the plans had been changed in the last second, and that he had spent the past few hours with Sophie`s brother instead;

"Well, you see, there was…" he had a hard time finding the right words; "Something came up, Mike; I never made it over to Sophie`s."

Mike`s reaction was exactly what the blue monster had been expecting and dreading all evening. The green one got up from his chair, raised his voice and gained the facial expression of someone who had just learned that the world was coming to an end;

"What? You promised me you`d give it a chance!"

"Well, technically I didn`t, it was _you_ who -"

"What on earth made you cancel?!" Mike walked over to the hairy monster in three big steps; he was getting angry now, his best friend couldn`t possibly know his own good.

"I got a phonecall, Mike; from Gladys, Randall`s neighbour, she -"

"Seriously, Sulley -" Mike wasn`t shouting anymore, but the tone his voice had captured now made Sulley feel even more uncomfortable; "You are _not_ going to tell me that you cancelled your date because of Randall – are you?"

"Yeeeeah, I kinda did…" Sulley grimaced, and his big, blue eyes rested on Mike as he continued;

"But the dinner with Sophie _wasn`t_ a date in the first place, I`ve told you that, I`m _not_ crushing on her, and Randall wasn`t feeling very well, and his neighbour wanted me there, and -" Sulley stopped himself, and chose not to tell Mike that Randall had been crying; it felt a little too personal.

The green monster let out a sigh as he allowed the information to sink in; sometimes he had troubles understanding his best friend`s choices, and this was one of those moments – who would skip a date with a girl who likes them in order to spend the evening trying to recover a former enemy? This was going out of hand, and Mike thought the time had come to say so;

"Listen, Sul; I`ve told you before that I`ll always be here for you, and that I`m interested in the things you care about."

Sulley tried to interrupt, but Mike raised his hand in order to keep his best friend silent - he wasn`t finished yet;

"But I must admit, I have a hard time following you on this one; don`t you see that you`re taking this looking-after-Randall-thing a little too far..? Tonight you actually picked _him_ over a girl! I know you want to help him, but… you`re giving the guy too much space! He`s interrupting your private life, he gets in the way of your plans..!"

Mike looked Sulley directly in the eyes; he meant every single word he had said – Sulley was spending way too much time with that lizard, and this was far from normal. The little monster`s face still had the same expression as he continued his pep-talk;

"Are you planning to visit him again tomorrow..?"

"Yeah; I`ve already told him I`m coming over".

"Then I`m going with you".

Sulley raised his eyebrows in confusion; the fight he was preparing himself for didn`t seem to come after all. Mike was going with him?

"What? But you just said -"

"I`m worried about ya, big guy -" Mike continued; "I want to see exactly what happens over there, to make sure the guy`s not threatening ya, or anything".

"Mike, there`s no need to – he`s not threatening, he`s depressed, and -"

"Well, sounds like he needs a proper cheer-up, then; and _I_ happen to be the most successful monster on the laugh-floor, so I`m probably the right one to tell him a joke or two".

Sulley felt uncomfortable; this didn`t sound like a very good idea. Mike and Randall didn`t go that well together, and as far as he knew, they had hardly talked since the short period they had been friends in college; besides, Sulley didn`t think Randall was very keen on him bringing Mike over to meet him.

But good-hearted as he was, the blue monster didn`t want to hurt his best friend`s feelings; after all, Mike always stood up for _him_, and Sulley thought the least he could do in return was to accept his support.

"Okay, Mike," he said eventually, sending a smile in his friend`s direction; "you can come with me tomorrow. I`m not sure Randall will like it, he tossed _me_ out the first time _I_ was there, remember, but I guess it`s worth a shot."

"Great!" Mike replied with a grin and two thumbs up, and Sulley felt more nervous than he had done in a while.

* * *

Saturday was cold and cloudy, and the blanket of snow was still covering up all the parts of Monstropolis that weren`t already hidden underneath a building. The city was quiet; almost everyone had chosen to stay indoors - even the pigeons in the park had found themselves a warm and dry place to rest.

Silence ruled in one of the apartments in the city, too; three monsters sat around a table, and not much was said between them - although they all knew each other, and had done so for many years.

The purple one stared at the little, green one sitting on the opposite side from him - he couldn`t _believe_ Sullivan had brought along Wazowski; they had barely exchanged a word since college, and it hadn`t exactly been a pleasant surprise to see him here. So at first, the lizard had yelled and told him to get the hell out, but then Sulllivan`s facial expression had been too much for even Randall to handle; his new friend had looked as if his entire world would come down if Randall didn`t give his flat-mate a chance, and Randall had ended up inviting Mike in - although with a desire to stab himself; damn it, he was getting soft.

Gladys Lorenzo had left the boys to themselves for a while, as she insisted on making them all lunch over at her apartment across the hall; it wasn`t every day she was lucky enough to meet _two _friends of her sweet Randy. However, her lunch-invitation made the situation even more awkward for the little group of three; they couldn`t really _do_ anything, just sit around, waiting for her to be finished.

Sulley looked at Randall. Randall looked at Mike. Mike glanced at the door, then over at Randall, and then up at Sulley; then he narrowed his eye. The blue monster eventually noticed that the green one was looking at him, and tried to smile in return; although it came out as some sort of a grimace. A bird flew away from outside of the window.

"So -"

Mike thought the time had come to say something, and the sudden break of silence caused both Sulley and Randall to jump slightly in their chairs.

"What`s up then, Randall..?" Mike smiled in the purple monster`s direction.

"I`m being babysat by this dope…" Randall gestured towards Sullivan, who let out an artificial laugh;

"Yeah, but you know I`m only doing it for your own good; I`m your friend, I don`t want you to -"

"I know". Randall lowered his gaze, and Sulley could swear a little smile was present on his face; he let out a breath by the sight of it. Mike coughed.

A new, long pause followed. Sulley`s eyes were still glued on the lizard, and once again Mike thought it was up to him to start a conversation;

"Not a lot going on at the moment then, Randall? Anyway, it`s good to see ya back..! You look -" the green monster took a glance at his host and tried his best to come up with a compliment; "- good..! Hey, have I mentioned my current project yet? _I _happen to be very busy these days!"

"With being a clown?"

"No – or… well… yeah, that too. But I`m working on this great musical on the side, it`s for the upcoming company play!" Mike didn`t notice Sulley`s desperate gestures to make him stop, and continued in an eager tone;

"It`s called _"Put that thing back where it came from or so help me"_, and it`s about - ouch!"

Mike rubbed his leg underneath the table where Sulley had just pinched him, and the blue monster finished the sentence himself;

"It`s about… friendship."

Mike finally understood the blue one`s point; perhaps a musical describing Randall`s latest actions at Monsters Inc. wasn`t the best subject in a conversation to cheer him up. The green monster coughed a couple of times before he played among with Sulley;

"Yeah..! Friendship, that`s it! And ya know what, Randall? I can get ya front row-tickets..!"

Randall mumbled something similar to _"good grief"_, and then all three fell silent again. It came as a pleasant surprise when Mrs Lorenzo popped her head through the door around ten minutes later and told them lunch was ready.

* * *

Randall`s neighbour clearly had a talent for cooking. For lunch, she had made her "three special boys" scrambled eggs, pancakes, bread, baked beans and hot dogs. On the table there was homemade jam, cheese, a variety of vegetables, fresh fruit and a tray of cookies which appeared to come straight from the oven; they filled the entire apartment white a sweet scent that caused every tummy to rumble.

Sulley and Mike needed a couple of minutes to take it all in; this was miles away from the lunches they`d normally prepare at home, which usually consisted of a simple sandwich or some yoghurt. Randall, on the other hand, was clearly more used to it, and sat down on what Sulley guessed was his usual seat, and started pouring himself some tea. The blue monster noticed that his lips were moving, but didn`t catch what he said;

"Huh..? I`m sorry, I didn`t get that..!"

"I said would you like some tea?" Randall held the pot over the cup placed next to his own, and eventually Sulley understood that he was expecting an answer, and nodded his head;

"Yeah; thank you". He sat down next to the lizard, and as he did, his arm brushed against one of Randall`s. The touch caused them both to withdraw right away, and (although he didn`t fully understand why) Sulley could feel himself blushing beneath his thick layer of fur; and the fact that Mike was looking at him with an expression Sulley hadn`t seen on him before wasn`t helping much.

Mike was given the chair next to Mrs Lorenzo, who pinched his cheek and told him that he reminded her of her late husband; Mike replied with his most charming smile, but it wasn`t hard for Sulley to see that he didn`t exactly _love_ the situation.

The meal was divine. Gladys really was an excellent cook, and once again Sulley could see why Randall had allowed her to cook for him; even back in the days before he got friendly. Even Mike had to admit that spending the day with Sulley`s new friends hadn`t been such a bad idea after all, as he munched on his fifth or sixth cookie.

When they were done eating, the three males all acted as they should and did the dishes, before leaving the old lady to herself for a while; it was nap-time.

* * *

Unfortunately, the good mood that had been present around the table seemed to decrease the minute Sulley, Mike and Randall made it back across the hall and entered the lizard`s apartment again; they didn`t have the meal to talk about anymore, and although Sulley tried to keep a conversation running, there wasn`t much help to get from the other two.

Randall still acted like a three-year-old at times, and spoke to Mike only when he had to. Luckily for him, Mike didn`t seem that interested in talking with _him_, either; the little green monster said a word now and then, but mostly he stayed close to Sulley and kept his mouth shut – something that was extremely rare for him.

After around half an hour on Randall`s couch with hardly any conversation, Sulley suggested that they could all go outside for a little while; the blue monster thought that things would probably loosen up between them if they had something interesting to do. The two others weren`t hard to ask, as they both wanted to escape each other`s company in the apartment. So before Sulley knew what was happening, they were all out on the street, walking towards the centre of Monstropolis.

* * *

Randall still looked angry, and the furry monster was worried about it; he didn`t want the scaly one to lose his new-won trust in him, and tried to keep a conversation running while they were walking. It wasn`t easy; the only answers that escaped the purple one`s lips were short statements such as "yeah", "no" or "I don`t care". Sulley tried to look to Mike for help now and then, but the green one just smirked back at him, leaving the blue one rather confused – Mike was acting weird.

As they walked deeper into the city, Sulley decided it was the time to come up with something to do, something that perhaps didn`t require a lot of talking. He stopped walking, turned towards Randall and tried to pull a smile;

"What would you like to do, Randall?"

"I`m here, too", Mike shot in from behind Sulley`s back; he didn`t like to be neglected like this.

"I know that, Mike -" Sulley sighed; "Now, what would you like to do; Randall and _Mike_..?"

"I don`t care". Randall crossed all four of his arms and tried his best to keep his eyes off Mike. The little eyeball was just as annoying as he remembered, and he didn`t see how Sullivan could possibly stand to be friends with him.

"Perhaps we could see a movie?" Sulley remembered that they were only a couple of blocks away from the movie theatre; that would be perfect - there was no need to talk in there.

"But it`s still early in the afternoon, they never show anything good at this time", Mike complained; "Why don`t we rather play paintball or -"

"A movie sounds good", Randall shot in before Mike got to finish his sentence – he started walking in the right direction, causing the two others to quickly follow him;

"You know Sul, if _he_ gets to be in charge all the time, this three-friends-thing aint gonna work..!" Mike gave Sulley the evil eye, but the big one only have him an angry stare back in reply.

* * *

When they got to the movie theatre, it became clear the Mike had been right; there weren`t any good movies showing at this time of day. The three _"friends"_ ended up buying tickets to a romantic comedy with bad reviews, and when the movie started they were the only three monsters present; apart from two teenagers on the back row that were clearly ditching school, who were too busy making out to even notice there was something going on at the canvas in front of them.

Sulley sat in the middle seat, with Mike to his left and Randall to his right; Mike had insisted on getting snacks for the film, and had ended up buying something wrapped in a bag that made loud noises every time he stuck his hand into it. Luckily he ate it all during the first twenty minutes of the film, and he used the rest of it to blame himself for not buying two.

The movie really was terrible; Sulley laughed a couple of times, but only because what was happening on the big screen was so bad. It surprised him that at his right side, Randall chuckled at the exact same parts, and at one point the purple monster even noticed that they were both laughing; he turned his head in order to give Sulley a grin, wordlessly spelling out _"what the hell?"_. It caused the blue one to look at the canvas again instantly, wondering why the event made him blush.

When the movie was finished, they all headed back to Randall`s apartment; now they finally had something to talk about, and they discussed the movie while they were walking – it turned out Mike was the only one who had actually enjoyed it, and he talked about bringing Celia along to see it a day during the next week; Randall looked at Sulley, and the blue one had to look away so that he wouldn`t start laughing.

* * *

Once they made it back, Mrs Lorenzo was waiting for them, freshly restored from her nap. After making sure it was okay for Randall to be left with her for the evening, Sulley and Mike decided it was probably time for them to head home; Sulley told Randall he would check in again tomorrow, and then they all said goodbye.

Gladys gave Mike a hug and another pinch on the cheek, and for a moment Sulley was wondering on whether he should give Randall a hug or not. He found himself staring at the lean, purple figure with feelings he had a hard time explaining; he eventually ended up patting Randall on his shoulder, before he quickly exited through the door with Mike.

* * *

Not much was said between the two best friends on the way home. Sulley had never struggled this much with talking to Mike, and wondered if his best friend was angry with him; the blue monster tried to start different conversations by making small statements on the weather and things around them, but the only replies he got from the green one were "yes"-es and occasional smiles.

It wasn`t until they entered through their own front door Mike finally turned to look at Sulley; his face was serious, but there was still a hint of a smile present there. Sulley recognized the look; it was Mike`s _I-have-something-very-important-to-tell-ya-look_, and the blue monster looked back at him, not knowing whether he was ready or not.

"Sulley -" Mike started, placing his hand on one of Sulley`s arms; "I just want to say I believe you now".

"On what?"

"You don`t have a crush -"

Sulley couldn`t help but interrupt; was Mike _still_ going on about that whole Sophie-thing? The furry monster`s voice was almost a yell as he replied;

"Come on, that`s what I`ve been telling you all along; I don`t have a crush -"

"…on _Sophie_." Mike raised his hand to shut Sulley up and gave him a know-it-all smile; "You don`t have a crush on _Sophie_".

Mike turned around, saying he was going to take a shower, and left a questioning Sulley in the hall; the big monster listened to Mike`s whistling, and although he still didn`t fully understand, a part of him knew all too well what the green one had meant with his last statement.

* * *

**Mike has realized what is happening..! Yay! And Sulley isn`t that far behind XD**

**I hope you liked chapter 13, don`t forget to leave me a review or PM now; I love those, and your opinions and thoughts inspire me:)**

**I`m working on the next chapter, and I hope to get it out on Monday or Tuesday. Please be back to check it out! **

**Until then, take care everyone, and thank you all so much for your support:)**


	14. Chapter 14: These Feelings Inside

**Hi everyone!**

**Thank you sooo much for the feedback on the last chapter! I`m glad you enjoyed it, and it`s great to hear your opinions on my story:) **

**I hope you`re up for the next chapter today, number 14! Things are getting interesting now, as Sulley and Randall are growing closer..! This chapter focuses mostly on Sulley`s feelings for Randall, and the crush is becoming clearer. Yay!**

**I don`t really know what else to say about this one, except I hope you`ll like it; read, review and meet me again at the bottom!**

* * *

**Chapter 14: These Feelings Inside**

Mike Wasowski had been worried about his best friend for the past few weeks. Sulley had been extremely busy with the big re-opening of Monsters Inc., and there had been days where the big monster had been so stressed out he`d forgotten which news-station he had been talking to. There had been days where Sulley had forgotten to lock the apartment after leaving for work, and nights where Mike had found him sleeping in front of the TV. There had been evenings where Sulley had ordered pizza and forgotten to pick it up. He had forgotten to call his mother for her birthday. He had forgotten to call Mike`s mother for _her _birthday. Being CEO was obviously harder than it seemed, and Mike couldn`t remember the last time Sulley had looked so tired.

Mike had calmed down when his best friend began to spend some time with Sophie Boggs. The green one thought _that_ had to be exactly what Sulley needed, someone special to spend time with in order to think about something else than work for a while. And perhaps Sophie could even be _the one_? She seemed really nice, and Mike had been encouraging Sulley to spend more time with her, hoping it would eventually lead to something more.

But when Sulley had announced that he had gotten himself a side-job a couple of weeks ago, Mike had seriously begun to question his friend`s sanity – especially when he heard what kind of job it was; Sulley was taking care of Randall Boggs, their former enemy and rival. The crazy lizard-monster who had tried to kill them both a month ago was now in Sulley`s keep, and Mike had troubles allowing it to sink in. He already knew Sulley as an extremely good-hearted and sensitive monster, but he never would have guessed that he would spend almost every single minute of his free time trying to help Randall recover from his depression. And although Mike had been supportive towards his best friend, it hadn`t been without worry; he had spent some sleepless nights thinking about what exactly was going on with Sulley these days.

But last Saturday, while hanging out with Sulley and Randall, Mike had received an eye-opener, something that suddenly made everything perfectly clear to him; he couldn`t believe he had been so blind, why hadn`t he noticed before? He had spent a big part of the day in the company of the two other monsters, and there was just _something_ about the way Sulley`s eyes had been on Randall all the time, _something_ about the way he looked at him. _Something_ about the blue monster`s sudden clumsiness around the purple one, _something_ about the way Sulley always made sure Randall was alright, _something _about the way Sulley looked when they accidentally touched… Mike knew that what he had noticed couldn`t possibly be mistaken; James P. Sullivan was falling for Randall Boggs.

Mike was thrilled. Or… he still wasn`t a big fan of Randall, it would take more than just a day to get over years of not getting along. But he had decided that if the lizard turned out to be his best friend`s special someone, then so be it; the only thing that really mattered was that Sulley was happy. And Mike was sure he would warm up to Randall eventually. Maybe.

The green monster still didn`t know whether Sulley had fully realized what was happening yet, but it surely didn`t seem so; on Sunday, the blue monster had spent the entire day with Randall, and as far as Mike knew, nothing more had happened between them. Apparently, they had been out for a walk before spending the rest of the day with Gladys Lorenzo and some card-games. Mike knew Sulley could be a little too slow for his own good sometimes, and it didn`t surprise him _at all_ that he didn`t seem to know what was going on. But Mike knew; and he was more than willing to give his friend a solid push in the right direction if he had to.

* * *

It was Thursday afternoon, and Sulley sat in one of the corners of Randall`s couch, looking at a TV-show through drowsy eyes. Randall was placed in the other end of the couch with a teacup and a pillow; his two sets of feet were hidden underneath a blanket and his eyes glanced at the TV through black-framed glasses. The lizard had started to wear his glasses in the presence of Sullivan earlier that week, and when Sulley looked over at him now, it became clear to him that he had won the purple one`s trust once and for all; Randall would never have allowed Sullivan to see him like this if he didn`t consider him a friend.

By now the two monsters were both tired from another one of their walks around the streets of Monstropolis, and they were also comfortably full from Sulley`s dinner; two boxes of microwave lasagna that he had miraculously managed to burn. Randall had experienced some serious problems with believing his own two eyes.

Sulley took a glance at Randall in the other end of the couch every once in a while; he didn`t know what to think. He had spent every morning and afternoon of both that week and the previous one with the lizard, and they were getting along hardly without problems now; they were able to talk about almost everything, and Randall actually seemed glad about having the blue one over.

Sulley enjoyed Randall`s company as well. In fact, he enjoyed it a bit more than he had expected; he actually found himself thinking about the purple monster at work. Every time they accidentally came near one another his heart skipped a beating. When he looked at him, he wanted to smile.

Sulley wasn`t stupid; he had been in love before, and recognized the feelings he was experiencing at the moment. Besides, Mike`s implications when he dropped him off on the outside of Randall`s apartment every morning couldn`t be more obvious – the green monster would always wish him good luck while giving him a blink, and then he always started humming a love-song as Sulley got out from the car and closed the door behind him as quick as possible.

But still, despite all the signs, feelings and implications; the furry monster felt unsure. He just didn`t know, he didn`t understand; he had _never_ been…could he _possibly_ be…- he even had a hard time just thinking about it -…crushing on a _guy.._?

And as if the situation wasn`t tricky enough at the moment, there was yet another thing that troubled Sulley; Randall. He didn`t know how Randall felt, and even less so how he would react if he knew how Sulley felt about _him_. The two had grown so close now, but it was nothing less than a miracle that they had managed to become friends in the first place; and Sulley was afraid he`d scare Randall away if he brought the subject up. Love and romance happened to be among the few things they _didn`t _talk about. However, Sulley realized that he might had to bring it up if he ever wanted to know how the scaly monster felt;

"Randall?"

The lizard turned his head in order to face Sullivan, and noticed that he looked a little uncomfortable;

"Yeah..? You okay?" The purple monster`s eyes narrowed even more behind the glasses; Sullivan seemed nervous.

"Sure, it`s just… I was just wondering…" Sulley didn`t know where to put his hands. "It`s just…" He had a hard time finding the right words, but when he saw the look Randall was sending him he eventually sat up straight and got himself together;

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

Randall`s eyes widened a little, and he didn`t answer the unexpected question straight away. Eventually he shook his head and glanced at the other, not knowing where he was going with this;

"No."

Once the little word escaped his lips, Randall realized that this was the first time he had told someone he had never been in a relationship. He quickly asked Sullivan a question in return as an attempt to silence the echo of his own statement he could still feel hanging in the air;

"How `bout you..? Girlfriend..? Or a ya just happy with Wazowski?" He added the last sentence to make himself feel a little better, but it didn`t help much. He took another sip of his tea.

"Well, I`ve been in a couple of relationships, but… nothing serious…" the blue one admitted;

"…and I haven`t been seeing anyone for a few years now".

"Okay".

An awkward pause followed. It wasn`t the first time silence ruled between Sulley and Randall after they`d become friends, but this was by far the longest and weirdest one yet.

"Do you want to come back to work?"

Sulley`s sudden change of subject came as a pleasant surprise on Randall. He let out a breath and was thankful for not having to give away more humiliating details about his non-existing love-life;

"Work?"

"Yeah -" Sulley seemed happy about the new subject, too – at least his facial expression had gone back to normal; "Everyone else got their old jobs back when I took over the company. You can have yours too, if you want it".

"But I`m a scarer -" Randall didn`t understand; "What am I supposed to do there?"

"I think you could pull off laugh-collecting..!"

The lizard took a moment to think; he hadn`t even been thinking about getting his job back. In fact, he had been so depressed he hadn`t been thinking about working at all. But now when he was starting to feel a little better and gave it a closer thought, he realized that eventually, he would need to do something else than just hanging out with Sullivan and Gladys in his apartment;

"I don`t know… Maybe, but… I`m not sure… I`m not sure if I`m ready yet".

"I didn`t mean right away, you need to fully recover first! But when you`re feeling ready, all you have to do is tell me, and I`ll re-hire you".

"I`ll think about it".

Randall took another pause. He wasn`t sure he wanted to spend his days trying to make human children laugh. And he wondered what it would be like to return to Monsters Inc. after what had happened there, and his face reflected his fear as he thought about it. Sulley understood what was on his mind;

"Don`t worry about the others; I`ll explain it to them".

"I still need to think about it".

"No problem".

"Have you told Sophie yet?"

Sulley shook his head. He hadn`t told Sophie her brother was back, but he intended to do so very soon; she had invited him over for dinner again tomorrow, and he planned to tell her then. However, Sulley hadn`t told Randall he was eating dinner with his sister, as he feared it would lead to jealousy and misconceptions;

"I haven`t found the right occasion yet, but I`m gonna tell her. Don`t worry".

"Good".

Randall seemed satisfied with the answer. Sulley looked over at him again, and felt a strike of sadness as he remembered that he wouldn`t be able to see him tomorrow due to his "date" with Sophie;

"Do you think you`ll be fine spending tomorrow with Gladys, Randall?"

"You… you`re not coming over..?"

Sulley was pleased to hear the disappointment in Randall`s voice, and hurried to explain;

"In fact, I _can`t _come over tomorrow. I have an early meeting at work, and in the evening I`m going to… visit my parents."

"Okay… Are you coming over for Saturday?"

Randall sat up and glanced at the blue monster. His emerald eyes were twice their normal size when he had the glasses on, and Sulley felt like he could stare at them for hours; the colour was incredible.

"If you want me to..?"

"I think… That would be nice…" The lizard could feel how his face turned hot, and he looked down at his own feet; inviting someone over was difficult for him;

"…are you coming over?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah".

"Fine! I`ll come!"

"For dinner?"

"Sure..! I can come for dinner..!"

"Only if you let _me_ make it; you`re a terrible cook".

Sulley didn`t exactly know what was happening; Randall had just invited him over for dinner? The blue monster was so excited over the suggestion that the comment to his own cooking didn`t even insult him, and he accepted with an ear-to-ear smile;

"Great!"

Randall looked at him for a little while, before he suddenly rose from the couch and headed for the kitchen. He came back right away, writing something down on a piece of paper.

"What`s that?" Sulley was still startled from the invitation and didn`t know what else to say. He jumped in his seat as the tip of Randall`s tail brushed against his leg when the purple one slithered back to his own part of the couch.

"A shopping list; If _I`m_ going to make dinner, I want fresh ingredients, not that microwave-crap of yours…"

Randall finished the list and handed it over to Sulley; "Think ya can pick this up on your way over here on Saturday? I`ll prepare the food in front of ya, perhaps you`ll pick up a trick or two; heaven knows you need it."

The furry one nodded as he chuckled. The Randall he knew was on his way back, alright; although with a big improvement - Sulley knew there was something more to him now. He took hold of the list, and as he did, his hand touched Randall`s; it caused them both to withdraw straight away and avoid each other`s eyes.

* * *

Mike was waiting for Sulley in their apartment when the blue monster made it back later in the evening;

"How`d it go today?"

The green one smiled, and followed his best friend into the living room where they both sat down in their chairs.

"It went well… He`s doing so much better now, he -"

"Yeah yeah, but how`d it _go_..? Did ya tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"You know".

Sulley`s expression made it more than clear to Mike that he _didn`t_ know, and the little one let out a deep sigh;

"Sulley; did you tell him how you feel about him?"

The furry monster could feel himself blush from the tip of his tail and all the way up to the top of his horns. He wasn`t very keen on discussing his feelings about Randall with Mike, as he wasn`t a hundred percent sure about them himself yet;

"No, I didn`t tell him…anything…" He rose from his chair; "Is there any food here, I`m starving, wanna order something, I can -"

"Sul, Sul -" Mike raised his hand to shut him up, and put on a more compassionate face;

"It`s okay. It`s all brand new, I understand".

"I just don`t know what`s happening, Mike…" Sulley sat down again and placed his hands in his lap; his eyes focused on something that appeared to be miles away.

"I know".

The pause that followed was just as awkward as the long one in Randall`s apartment earlier that night. Sulley and Mike were normally able to talk about everything, but this subject was difficult for both. Eventually, Mike was the one to break the silence (as usual);

"When are you going to see him again?"

"Saturday. I`m having dinner with Sophie and Rex tomorrow, remember".

"Have you told him about that?"

"No, I thought it could…lead to misconceptions".

"You don`t want him to believe you have something going on with his sister".

"Something like that… But I`m seeing Randall again on Saturday, he wanted me to come over, he`s going to make me dinner, and -"

"He`s making you dinner?" Mike`s eye grew even wider with excitement;

"Sulley, that`s like a… a _date_!"

Sulley was about to say something, but Mike beat him to it;

"…and _that`s_ actually a little perverted, Sul; you`re having a date with Randall on Saturday, and a date with his sister on Friday!"

"The dinner with Sophie`s not a date, I`ve told you that like a million times!"

"But the one with Randall _is_, huh..?"

Mike smirked at Sulley, who`s answer was to blush again and look away; but the green one was pleased to notice that a shy smile was present in his face.

* * *

**Okay; what do you think? About the chapter, about the interaction between the characters, about Sulley`s crush on Randall, about the whole package? Please do tell me.**

**The next chapter will focus on Sulley`s "date" with Sophie, I have already started working on it. Rex will be in it, and Sophie will learn that her brother is back in the monster world. **

**There are big events in all of the upcoming chapters now, I`m so excited! Hope you are, too;) I have also started planning how Sulley and Randall`s first kiss is gonna go. I still haven`t decided who should make the first move, though… Hmmm, what do **_**you**_** think?**

**And I also have to mention (although some of you already know): I have started working on a Sulley/Randall-short, which will be published when this one is finished! It`s called **_**Date Night**_**, but that`s unfortunately all I can tell you by now; I can`t give away the plot yet, as it contains spoilers;) But there will be ROMANCE! :D**

**I got to go now, please come back to check out the new chapter on…let me see… Sunday or Monday…I think..! **

**Take care:)**


	15. Chapter 15: Dinner for Three

**Hi there!**

**Another chapter! A long one! Yay!**

**So, this is the chapter where Sulley visits Sophie and Rex for dinner. I`m pleased with it and find it kinda cute, and I hope you`ll like it too:) **

**Reflected Darkness asked me whether Boo is going to be in this story, and the answer to that is unfortunately no… The events in my story take place before Mike puts her door back together in the end of Monsters Inc. But I think Boo is one of the reasons for Sulley to care so much for Rex; he reminds him of her.**

**Thanks for all the feedback on the story so far; I really appreciate it:) **

**That`s all I have to say for now, I think… It`s your turn once again now; read the chapter and leave behind a review!**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Dinner for Three**

Sophie Boggs took one last glance at herself in the mirror to see if she looked alright. She was nervous, and couldn`t remember the last time she had been this worried about her own appearance; she had been self-confident and satisfied with the way she looked most of her life, but today she suddenly felt like a fourteen-year-old again. And she knew the reason for her sudden shyness; someone special was coming over for dinner anytime now, someone she really, truly liked.

Sophie could hardly believe she had first met Sulley less than a month ago; it felt as if she had known him all her life. She felt so safe around him, and the thought of him alone was enough to make her feel warm and secure. Sure, he was ten years younger; but that didn`t matter – Sulley was mature, and the most important thing was that they got along. They were both adults. Age was just a number.

The sound of the door-bell made Sophie jump - her heart started pounding and sweat gathered in her palms. It caused her to curse to herself; she was too old to act like this. She was a grown woman, not a teenage girl. She acted like she`d never had a date before… Despite her attempts to get herself together, the thought of the monster on the other side of the front-door made her heart continue to beat a little faster than usual. In order to get a few extra seconds to calm herself down, she asked the other resident of the house to answer the door;

"Rex, will you get that, honey?"

She drew a deep breath as the sound of her son`s footsteps approached the door; it was now or never.

* * *

Sulley felt uncomfortable. He was waiting for Sophie to answer the door and let him in, and he had a bad feeling about this evening. He didn`t view their dinner as a date, but Mike had convinced him that Sophie probably _did_; and since the furry monster really cared for her, he was afraid of letting her down and break her heart.

He allowed his thoughts to wander over to Randall; Sulley wished he could have spent the evening with _him_, and the thought of the purple monster made his stomach jump. He could hardly wait for the date - _dinner_ – with him tomorrow…

Sulley pulled himself back to the moment and looked down at the flowers he held in his hand; he had picked out some nice but neutral ones for Sophie, something that didn`t spell out _I love you _or _Please be my girl_. The sight of the flowers caused him to start wondering whether he should bring Randall something tomorrow; could he buy flowers for a guy..? Did Randall _like_ flowers? …Did Randall like _him.._?

Sulley`s thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open and a little orange monster threw himself against him in a squeezing hug;

"Ulley!"

"Hi, Rex! Good to see you!"

He hugged the little one back, and noticed that Rex was dressed up for dinner with a little tux-bow;

"Hey, you look good, kid!"

Rex grinned in reply, exposing all of his teeth, clearly proud of his own appearance. However, it didn`t take him very long to move his focus on to something else;

"Pwetty!"

He pointed to the flowers in Sulley`s hand, and the blue one handed them over as he figured it would be even less romantic if Sophie received them from her son;

"They`re for you and mum! Do you like them?"

"Yeah! Muuuuum!"

Rex ran to the other room to find Sophie, and Sulley entered their hall; he took a look around and noticed that despite the fact that Sophie and Rex had been expecting a visitor, their house wasn`t very tidy. There were toys here and there, a few stains on the carpet and even traces of crayons on the wall. Sulley chuckled; Rex was a handful. But clearly worth it, though.

"Sulley!"

He turned his head and faced Sophie, who greeted him with a hug as usual;

"Thank you so much for the flowers, they`re beautiful; they`re my favourites, how did you know?"

_Oh no._

"Lucky guess..! Thanks for inviting me, Sophie!"

"My pleasure!"

The hostess gestured that they could sit down in the living room, but Rex had different plans for their guest;

"Ma woom!"

He took hold of Sulley`s hand and tried his best to pull the big monster up the stairs with him;

"You see ma woom, Ulley! Now!"

"Rex, relax!" Sophie`s voice gained a more serious tone;

"Sulley just arrived here, give him some time to breathe! Perhaps he wants something to drink first, he can see your room later; he`s going to be here all evening, remember, and -"

"Pleeeeeease!"

"Rex, don`t get me started now -"

"It`s okay, Sophie -" Sulley smiled at the slightly stressed out female who was about to lift a warning finger at her son;

"I want to see his room, he`s been waiting for days to show me..!"

Sulley _really_ wanted to see Rex`s room. In fact, he wanted to stay there all night, if that could keep him from being alone with Sophie; he felt insecure, and was afraid of letting her know he wasn`t into her.

"Okay, then..!" Sophie gave in and smiled at the two guys;

"Go ahead and show him, Rex! But have him back for dinner!"

"Yeah!"

Rex let go of Sulley`s hand and ran up the stairs straight away. When he saw that Sulley moved a little slower than him he ran back down again to help him up, and by the time Sulley reached the second floor, Rex had been up and down the stairs five times already.

* * *

The first floor in Sophie`s house was tidy compared to the second one. In addition to even more toys, there were laundry, mugs, books, drawings and everything else a single parent could possibly keep in her home. There were more stains and more remains of crayons and paint. However, it was very cosy; Sulley felt as if he had entered someone`s home and not a stand at a fair, and he liked it. Besides, his own apartment wasn`t exactly the tidiest in the world either, so he also felt he didn`t have the right to complain.

Rex`s room was located in the end of the hall, and it reminded Sulley of Boo`s; it held a bed, a nightstand, a closet, a desk and a window that overlooked the garden. The walls were pale blue, and the floor was covered in all kinds of things a three-year-old would consider a treasure; toys, oddly shaped stones, drawings, pictures and books. Sophie smiled from a picture on the wall, and right next to it there was a picture of two monsters that looked similar to Sophie, Randall and Rex.

"That`s gwandma and gwandpa," Rex explained as he noticed Sulley looking at the picture;

"They`we up thewe..!"

He pointed up towards the ceiling, but luckily Sulley understood what he meant;

"They`re in heaven..?"

"Yeah".

Rex waved towards the place he thought his grandparents were now located and started shouting up at them;

"Hello! Ulley, say hello! Hellooooo!"

Sulley raised his hand and waved with Rex, letting out a gentle "hello".

"Ulley`s ma best fweind!" Rex yelled upwards as to explain who his guest was. Then he waited a couple of seconds for a reply, and he obviously got one;

"They like you!" He looked at the big monster with an ear-to-ear grin, before suddenly pointing in a different direction;

"Look, Ulley!"

Sulley turned around to see what the little one wanted to show him now, and his gaze fell on a drawing on the wall. Rex ran over to it and explained what it was;

"That`s when we wewe in the snow! That`s _me_, that`s _you_, that`s _slesh_!"

As Rex pointed the different things out, Sulley was somehow able to see their resemblance; he saw the orange area that was supposed to be Rex, the blue area that resembled himself, and something red at the bottom he guessed was the sledge. He didn`t see anything purple, though; clearly Rex hadn`t bothered drawing the guy he knew as George.

* * *

When Rex was done showing Sulley his room, he gave the blue guest a full tour around the rest of the house; which also included the inside of every cabinet and drawer. Sophie stopped them once they got to the laundry-room, and told them dinner was ready; and after a little battle between Sophie and Rex about the importance of hand-wash, all three sat down around the living room-table with spaghetti and sauce. The hostess excused herself;

"I`m afraid it`s nothing fancy..! I had to make something Rex would eat, too!"

"Spaghetti`s fine! I like it!"

Sulley smiled back at her as he tasted the food; it was actually really good, much better than his own cooking. But then again; it didn`t take too much to beat the crap out of _that_.

Rex clearly enjoyed the food as well, and Sulley looked at him from time to time during the meal; the little monster tried to eat with his fork to begin with, but he finished the bowl of spaghetti using all four of his hands – and at one point, his tail. He missed his mouth at times and dropped food on the floor. He picked it up again and ate it. He wiped his hands on the table-cloth when he thought no one was watching. He sneezed a couple of times and wiped his nose with his hands, only to use them to pick up food again seconds later. He tipped his glass over. He tipped _Sophie`s_ glass over. Sulley couldn`t help it, he _had_ to giggle at the sights; this was truly a dinner _and_ a show.

The dessert was some kind of pudding Rex declared his love for around twenty times as they ate; and this time, the orange monster used his four hands as spoons from the very beginning. Sophie had a couple of attempts to tell him to eat in a nicer way, but it didn`t go through; so eventually she gave up and allowed her son to have a good time and enjoy the dessert in his own way.

After dinner Sulley helped Sophie carry the plates into the kitchen and load the dishwasher, and then it was time for Rex to go to bed. The little one put up a brave fight, but there was no mercy this time; it was far beyond his bedtime. He cheered up a little when Sulley agreed to help him brush his teeth and read him a story (he even went up the stairs to the second floor voluntarily), but his emerald eyes were full of tears; he wanted to stay awake as long as Sulley was there, and the blue monster secretly wished the same.

* * *

Sulley had never brushed someone else`s teeth before, but Sophie told him he did well - and Rex seemed happy about the job, too. When they were finished the two adults followed Rex into his bedroom and tucked the little monster in; Sophie gave her son a kiss before leaving the two guys to themselves, and Rex picked out the book he wanted Sulley to read.

It all felt very weird. Weird, but nice; the whole experience brought back memories of Boo, and Sulley could feel himself going all soft as the little monster, who sucked his thumb and clung to an ancient-looking blanket, leaned against him while he read him a bedtime-story.

Eventually Rex`s eyes got heavier, and by the time they`d finished the book the little monster was almost asleep. Sulley tucked him in carefully, and for a moment he wondered whether he should kiss the orange one`s forehead or not. When Rex mumbled _"I love you, Ulley"_, he decided he probably should, and bent over - carefully placing his lips on the little head;

"I love you too, Rex".

Rex barely had the energy to smile in reply before he travelled off to sleep.

* * *

Sophie awaited Sulley on the other side of Rex`s door;

"Thanks for being so patient with him… You have no idea what that means to me".

"He`s a great kid, I enjoy spending time with him!"

"He really likes you, too..!" Sophie smiled as she started walking towards the stairs;

"Can I offer you a glass of wine?"

"Sure…thanks..!" Sulley swallowed hard; he had been dreading this. Alone with a woman who appeared to like him, whom he didn`t want as anything more than a friend.

He followed her down the stairs and sat down on the couch while she got a bottle of wine from the fridge. He took a look around the living room; there were toys on the floor and pictures on the walls. Pictures of Sophie and Rex, pictures of Sophie and Randall`s parents, pictures of friends… He noticed there were no pictures of Randall.

Sophie made it back with two glasses and a bottle, and sat down beside Sulley; a little too close for the furry one`s taste. She poured the wine and handed him a glass, and while she started pouring some for herself Sulley asked her a question to keep her from bringing up romantic subjects;

"Why are there no pictures of Randall in your house?"

Sophie looked at him, a little puzzled;

"I… That`s an odd thing to ask..!"

"Not really; he`s your brother, and Rex`s uncle. He`s a part of your family".

"He _is_, but…he kind of chose not to be…I…It`s a little difficult".

Sophie looked at her guest, who glanced back at her with questioning blue eyes. Their intensity caused her to let out a sigh and take a sip of her wine;

"I love Randall. I always have. I`m sure Rex would have loved him too, if he knew him…But like I told you before, Randall suffers from an inferiority complex, and I think he sees Rex as his rival. He didn`t want us around, and I had to respect that."

She lowered her gaze as she went on;

"But I miss him. I miss him like crazy; he`s my little brother and I love him very much, and I`m worried sick about him – I don`t know how he is, where he is…"

She looked up again, and allowed her brown eyes to connect with Sulley`s;

"I can`t have his picture on the wall, it would drive me insane to see him every day without being able to contact him. But I _have_ pictures of him; they`re in my room, in a box underneath my bed. I look at them from time to time, when I have the energy. And Rex knows he has an _uncle Wandall_ somewhere, whom I`ve told him isn`t around to see us at the moment… But Rex _do_ talk about him, a lot, even though he doesn`t know him -"

Sophie`s face regained its familiar smile;

"…and did you notice that old blanket Rex cuddled up with in bed? That used to be Randall`s. He refused to go to sleep without it when he was a child, and it`s exactly the same with Rex. He and Randall are so alike… Watching Rex grow up…is like watching Randall all over again..!"

Sulley chuckled;

"Did he use to eat with his hands too..?"

"I don`t think he learned to use a fork until he turned five..!"

They shared a laugh, which felt wonderful after the serious atmosphere that had ruled in the living room for a while. Sulley took a sip from his glass and imagined a baby Randall acting like Rex did a couple of hours ago; it made him smile.

"Do you want to see the pictures..?" Sophie got up from the couch;

"I have them upstairs, I`ll go get them!"

She hurried upstairs without another word, and Sulley felt relieved; as long as they had something to talk about, this night was going to be okay.

* * *

Sophie came back after a little while, as she had to check on Rex as well. Then the two blue monsters spent a long time looking at all of the pictures of Randall`s life; there were pictures of him as a baby and as a child. There were pictures from the period he had been hospitalized. Pictures from his teenage-years. Pictures of him when he was in college. Pictures from Monsters Inc., pictures of everything. Sophie had to dry her eyes a couple of times;

"I`m sorry… I haven`t watched these with someone before".

"It`s okay…"

Seeing how emotional Sophie got from looking at the pictures instantly reminded Sulley of last week, when Randall broke down after seeing the picture of Sophie. Perhaps the siblings were more similar than he first had guessed…

His eyes rested on the female monster, who eventually noticed she was the centre of attention. She coughed, and her scales changed from blue to a deep shade of pink. It surprised Sulley; he didn`t knew she was able to change her colour, too.

"Thank you for everything, Sulley…" Sophie changed back to her usual shade of blue as she leaned a little closer;

"I have never known someone like you before…"

The hairy monster suddenly felt sweat gathering on his back; Sophie was too close, and she was moving even closer. Their eyes met; Sulley stared into the big brown ones until the owner closed them. The two monsters were only a few inches apart. Sulley could feel her breath against his mouth;

"Randall`s back!"

Sophie opened her eyes as she withdrew herself from Sulley;

"What?!"

The hairy one sat up straight and was relieved by the fact that he had managed to keep Sophie from kissing him. However, he hadn`t planned how he was going to tell her about Randall, and the words escaped his lips in random order;

"Randall got back before I met you, he`s been depressed, he wanted to kill himself, he lived in a shed, his neighbour`s looking after him when I`m not there, I`m there every day, he… I … he…"

The look on Sophie`s face caused him to stop talking and draw a deep breath. Another sip from the wine didn`t hurt either.

"Sophie -" he said eventually, when he had managed to calm himself down;

"Your brother is back in the monster world. It`s a long story. Do you want me to tell you?"

Sophie nodded as tears gathered in her eyes. She refilled their glasses before Sulley started telling her what was going on with her brother.

* * *

Sulley told her everything; how Randall got back, how he was doing, that he went over to visit him every day – everything except how he felt about him. Sophie listened without any interruptions; apart from a couple of times when she started crying. When she did, Sulley held her until she calmed down, as he wondered what he had gotten himself into; this was the second time in a couple of weeks he found himself comforting a crying member of the Boggs-family.

When he was done telling Sophie about Randall`s situation, she said nothing for a long time; the new information needed time to sink in. Eventually she got up and headed for the kitchen;

"I could use a cup of tea. How `bout you?"

Sulley agreed and followed her. After a little while they found themselves sitting by the kitchen table, and Sophie finally found the right words;

"I don`t know what to say, Sulley…" Her eyes started to water again, but a big smile stretched across her face; "Thank you..!"

"No biggie…"

"_Huge_ biggie..! You`ve been looking after my brother; do you have any idea what that means to me? What it means to Randall? Sulley, all he has ever wanted is a friend, and _you_ are that friend! You have probably saved his life, do you realize that?"

"I only did what I felt was right…"

"But you _did_ it! Despite what he did to you -" She took hold of his hand; "That shows how big your heart is, Sulley".

They didn`t move for a while, and Sulley was the one to break the silence a few minutes later;

"He wants to see you. I don`t know when he`s ready, but…I guess it`s soon… I`m seeing him tomorrow – are you home tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Oh, I`m afraid not!" Sophie looked devastated; "I`m going to visit a friend who just got divorced – she`s going through a hard time, and I promised to be there. I`ve even hired a babysitter, I can`t cancel, I`m sorry!"

"It`s okay. We have time. I can talk to Randall and find a day, and we`ll get back to you. Okay?"

"Yes".

* * *

After a second cup of tea, it was time to say goodnight. Sophie walked Sulley to the door and gave him a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. He gave her one back; _that_ couldn`t hurt – he kissed his _mother _on the cheek. After saying goodbye she closed the door and Sulley stepped down from the patio and tripped over one of Rex`s toy cars. He managed to keep his balance and made it to the front gate and onto the sidewalk. He didn`t bother calling a cab. It was a long walk home, but he wanted some fresh air to clean his thoughts.

His heart felt light; it had been a good evening. He still didn`t know exactly where he had Sophie, but he chose not to think about that. He liked her as a friend, and hoped things would stay that way. His thoughts wandered over to Rex; he adored that little guy, and couldn`t wait to see him again.

Then he started thinking about tomorrow and his dinner with Randall. Dinner…or date..? _Date_. It was a date. He said the little word out loud and smiled to himself. He was really looking forward to it.

* * *

**Awww..! Did you like it? Please tell me:)**

**So, I have started the next chapter, which will be about Sulley`s date with Randall..! *holds breath* Are you excited? I know **_**I**_** am! **

**I`m going on a trip to the mountains next weekend, but I`ll try to get the chapter out before I leave on Friday. If I don`t make it, I will publish it on Sunday.**

**Everybody take care, and enjoy your week!**

**And BTW, know what? I pre-ordered my Monsters University DVD the other day! Aaaaaahhh! But sigh; know when the release date in Norway is..? November 20****th****! Gahhhh, I can`t believe I have to wait another month..! **


	16. Chapter 16: Crush Course

**Hi there!**

**Hope you`re up for a date!**

**Once again, thanks for each and every review, fav, follow and PM! It really keeps me going, and I am so pleased:) You guys are the best!**

**I know some of you have been waiting for today`s chapter; it`s about Sulley and Randall`s date, or dinner, and let me just say; there`s **_**definitely**_** romance in the air now! Writing certain parts of this chapter caused **_**my **_**heartbeat to rise too, just so you know;)**

**With that being said, this chapter was extremely difficult to write; I have actually never been on a date myself (I know, I`m weird), and when I first sat down with this I was completely blank. However, after spending some time thinking and imagining, I came up with something I feel works. ;)**

**Here you are, enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Crush Course**

"You`re gonna be late."

Mike gave his best friend an accusing look as they both entered the green monster`s beloved car; it was already past seven, and Sulley should have been at Randall`s place five minutes ago.

A lot of things had taken more time than Sulley had predicted that afternoon; picking up the groceries had been easy enough, but the blue monster had faced a dilemma when it came to whether he should buy Randall a gift or not. He knew it was considered common politeness to bring a little something for the host, and thought that he probably should; but then came the question on what on earth he should buy? He didn`t want to bring Randall flowers – Sulley feared that all sorts of flowers could be interpreted into a declaration of love, and since he didn`t know what Randall considered him, he had decided flowers weren`t the way to go. Eventually he had ended up buying Randall a box of chocolate, but he still didn`t know whether he had the courage to give it to him.

When the shopping was done, Sulley had spent an impressing amount of time on getting ready. Mike couldn`t believe it could possibly take him so long; he didn`t even have to pick out an outfit! But Sulley had taken his time, carelessly ignoring his best friend`s sighs and eye-rolling – and Mike was beginning to wonder if the other monster`s plan was to arrive _fashionably late_ or something.

However, they had managed to make it to the car, and the green monster stepped on the gas before the other one had even reached to close the door; Mike wanted to get his friend to Randall`s apartment as quick as possible, to Sulley`s own good.

"You know Sul, I think the most important matter for Randall is the fact that you`re actually _coming_; not which odorant you`re wearing..!" Mike knew Sulley was nervous, and tried his best to cheer him up – and one of his favourite ways to do that was by teasing; "Unless you`re planning to… get close tonight?"

"What?!" Sulley looked startled and stared back at Mike; "What`s _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Sul -"

"We`re not -"

"Sulley -"

"…we`re not _there..!_"

"- _yet_". Mike`s teasing grin vanished, and his face gained a more compassionate expression; "You`re not there _yet_. I know, Sul."

Sulley gave Mike a shy smile in return; he was happy he had such an understanding best friend.

* * *

The apartment was spotless.

Randall had spent the entire day cleaning it, with good help from Mrs Lorenzo, and was very pleased with the result. He was a bit of a neat freak on a normal basis, but today it was even more important to him that the place looked perfect; he was expecting a guest for dinner.

The purple monster was used to having company by now; Sullivan and/or Gladys had been over every day for the last couple of weeks. But today was the first time, for as long as he could remember, he had actually _invited_ someone over. A friend.

Randall was still amazed by the fact that he actually had a friend, a friend he was confident enough to ask over. He could hardly believe it, and felt happy and terrified at the same time; happy to have someone to invite over for dinner, and terrified of pushing him away. Randall wasn`t that good with others, and had problems with expressing his emotions - what he had overheard Sophie tell Sullivan a couple of weeks ago had been painfully true; he was afraid of caring, afraid of bonding – and afraid of losing.

However, Sullivan had surprised him; Randall had openly hated him for years, but those feelings were all gone now, and replaced with…he didn`t really know. All he knew was that the guy he had gotten to know was someone special, someone who truly cared. Someone who had completely ignored Randall`s loud protests and threats, and refused to leave him alone with his dark thoughts. Someone who…had probably saved his life…

Yes, Sullivan was special; special in deed. Randall had the big monster on his mind as he walked from the kitchen and into the living room, and jumped at the sight of his own reflection in the window; his scales were in a deep shade of pink, a colour he sometimes found himself wearing when he was thinking about someone he…_cared for_. However, it hadn`t happened in a while, due to obvious reasons. He quickly changed back to his normal colour, but could feel his heartbeat rising as he walked closer to the window.

For a moment, Randall stared at the reflection of his own face, until a movement in the parking lot outside caused him to change his focus; a familiar, big, blue creature had caught his eyes, and a little shiver went up his spine. His guest was here.

* * *

Although Randall had been expecting a visitor, the knock on the door took him by surprise; why did Sullivan bother knocking? He never did that, he normally just locked himself in with the key he had borrowed from Sophie. The lizard thought about that as he walked over to the front door – he also wondered how he was going to greet his guest; it all suddenly seemed much more formal when he had to open the door himself and let the other one in.

"Don`t you have Sophie`s key..?" Randall swung the door open, and his own choice of words made him feel like strangling himself;

"I mean – You normally just enter – Why do you – I mean - _Hello_..!"

"Hi!" Sulley couldn`t help but chuckle from Randall`s greeting - he still found the lizard`s way of being kinda awkwardly cute;

"I have the key, but… I thought I`d knock this time. Since this is… the first time you`ve invited me…"

"Oh. Okay". Randall stepped aside and let Sulley in;

"T-thank you".

"For what?"

"For coming".

Without any further warning, Randall moved closer to Sullivan and put all four of his arms around him. The unexpected hug was over after only a few seconds, and left the blue monster startled – he didn`t even get the chance to hug back. As Randall loosened his grip and withdrew himself from the other, an odd tension rose between them in the hall. The lizard looked embarrassed, and Sulley was happy to be covered in thick fur – it kept the current colour on his face from showing;

"I…I brought your groceries..!"

"Thanks".

Randall took hold of the bag handed to him by Sullivan and hurried into the kitchen; his face felt like it was burning up. He had just given Sullivan a hug, and wasn`t quite sure what had come over him; he had just felt so happy to see the him, and before he knew it he was wrapped around the other monster`s chest – Randall could feel himself blushing again just by thinking about it.

"Need help with anything..?" Sullivan followed him into the kitchen and looked everywhere else than into the lizard`s eyes.

"After seeing your skills in the kitchen, Sullivan; I don`t think so…" Randall hissed. He tried his best to keep up his attitude and not make a fool of himself again, and started unloading the groceries from the shopping bag;

"…but on the other hand, I think it would do you good to learn how things are actually done in a kitchen, so pick up an apron and get over here…"

Sulley grabbed hold of an apron he found on a hook by the door, and took place next to Randall - somewhat ready for a little cooking-lesson;

"Okay, then -" he smiled with anticipation;

"What are we making today?"

"Lasagna -" Randall returned his smile, although with a hint of tease;

"_Real_ lasagna..!"

* * *

Randall hadn`t been cooking in a while, but he clearly hadn`t forgotten his kitchen-skills; he fried the meat, made the sauce, prepared the dessert – all at once and with a lot of confidence. Sulley, on the other hand, was a little _less_ confident; he had been granted the job of slicing the vegetables, and tried his best to keep up with Randall`s speed – but there was no doubt that having four arms was a big advantage in a kitchen, and the blue one fell behind from the very start. When Sulley noticed that the host was getting a little impatient, he tried to increase the speed of his slicing - which caused Randall to put down the kitchen-tools and yell at him;

"Damn it, Sullivan, you`re gonna chop your own fingers off!"

"I don`t want to keep you waiting..!"

"You`ll have me waiting in the Emergency Room if you continue like this..! Here; let me show you!"

Randall lined up right next to Sullivan, took hold of his hands, and sliced a tomato together with him;

"See..? This is how it`s done, you big dork…" The purple monster gave the other one a teasing grin before he returned to the sauce.

Sulley missed the feeling of the slender hands around his own, but took hold of another tomato with new-won courage and sliced it in the same way Randall had showed him; it took a little longer, but the result was somewhat the same.

"You`re improving -" Randall smirked from where he was standing.

"So are you."

"What do you mean?"

"It`s possible to hang out with you now."

"Yeah, like you haven`t been enjoying my company for the last couple of weeks..!" Randall gave Sulley another grin and a friendly punch as he picked up the sliced tomatoes and threw them into the sauce.

"The first few days here weren`t exactly cheerful, you know..!" Sulley replied to Randall`s teasing, but quickly switched to a more serious tone;

"But it`s been good…good getting to know you".

"You too". The scaly monster smiled as he tasted the sauce;

"…and this is perfect, by the way..!"

* * *

"Have you been thinking about the job-offer..?"

Sulley lay down his spoon; he had just eaten the last piece of his dessert, which had been the perfect end of a perfect meal.

"Actually, I _have_…" Randall admitted;

"And I think… I think I wanna give it a go".

Sulley`s face broke into a big smile;

"Great! When do you wanna start?"

"Not sure yet… I don`t really know how to be funny, so I guess… I`ll need some practice first… But I want to try it."

Sulley could hardly believe the good news; Randall wanted to return to Monsters Inc.? That had to be the final sign of his recovery – either that, or the final sign of his change…

"We`ll find a day for you to come with me and visit the factory, no problem! And I`ll prepare the other employees, so you don`t have to worry about them – these are really great news, Randall..!"

"Oh well, it`s about time I do something else than sit around at _this_ place, so… Winds of change, ya know…"

They shared a smile and Sulley treated himself to another piece of pie.

* * *

A bit later, when they were finished with clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, the two friends went outside for a walk. They could both use to stretch their legs after the big meal, and they also enjoyed walking together; there had been lots of walks during the first two weeks of their friendship.

Today, they chose to walk through the park. It was all dark and quiet, and there were no other monsters out. That didn`t come as a surprise; it was a Saturday night, so most of the other citizens of Monstropolis were either at home with their families or out on the town with their friends. A gentle snowfall was the only company on Sulley and Randall`s stroll, and for a long time, they didn`t say anything – they just enjoyed the silence surrounding them in this little piece of nature in the middle of the city; until Sulley remembered some news he hadn`t shared with Randall yet.

"I…I told Sophie you`re back yesterday!"

"You did? What did she say?" Randall stopped walking as his eyes grew wide with excitement; he had been waiting for Sullivan to tell his sister, but now that the deed was done, he wasn`t sure if he was ready.

"She said a lot…and she cried, but… I actually think she was happy, at least she thanked me".

"Does she want to see me?" The scaly one hardly dared to ask. He dreaded the answer, but had to know.

"Sure!" Sulley noticed the relief in the other monster`s eyes at the sound of the little syllable, and carried on with the good news; "I told her we`d pick a day and get back to her -"

"Are you coming with me to see her..?"

"Do you want me to..?"

Randall turned his head away from Sullivan again - admitting he wanted company was still hard for him;

"Yeah…I want you there".

"Then I`ll join you, I`m sure Sophie won`t mind."

"…just promise me that you won`t arrange the meeting with a dinner at _your_ place, you still have a lot to learn in the kitchen before I can trust you with preparing and cooking a meal for three – or four, if Wazowski`s joining us, too. Or perhaps we can just place him by the children`s table with Rex…"

Randall smirked at his own joke, and Sulley had to chuckle too;

"You know Randall, it`s a good thing you`ve recovered, but you`re getting a little _too_ confident now..!"

"It`s all your fault, you know, blame yourse-"

The snowball hit Randall on the left cheek, and took the lizard completely by surprise. The other monster laughed;

"…you need to _cool_ down a little, Randall..!"

"Oh, you think so..?" Randall grinned in reply;

"Be careful Sullivan, you don`t know what you`re getting yourself into here..!"

Without another word, Randall turned invisible. Sulley was still laughing; this was a playful side of the other monster he had never seen before. He heard Randall`s voice somewhere near, but couldn`t figure out exactly where it came from;

"A snowball-fight with someone you can`t see, someone who`s got _four_ hands – not the wisest thing you can do, you big troll..!"

Smack! Two snowballs hit Sulley in the back of the head. The blue monster fumbled around, a little shocked from the attack, and tried to catch the lizard-monster. When he realized he was no longer behind him, he scooped up some more snow from the ground, ready to make another snowball; but when he was down on his knees, two other snow-missiles hit him - once again in the back of the head. Sulley quickly got up, turned around, and received another one in the face;

"Okay, _now_ you`re dead..!" He threw his own snowball in the direction of which he thought Randall was located, but didn`t hit anything. He heard the other monster laugh at his left side, turned his head - and noticed footprints being made in the snow, apparently by themselves.

First, Sulley pretended not to see them; he just continued laughing and pretended he was looking for Randall. But suddenly, without warning, he quickly reached out towards the space above the footprints and grabbed hold of what appeared to be air, but turned out to be a living body;

"Gotcha!"

The invisible creature tried putting up a fight, and wasn`t easy to hold on to – there were arms and legs everywhere, and the tail didn`t make it easier. All of Randall`s movements eventually caused Sulley to lose his balance, and he fell to the ground with the invisible lizard in his arms. Randall re-appeared as they hit the snow-covered grass, and Sulley was pleased to see that his face was boiling over with laugher as he shouted out his curses;

"Screw you..!"

"Nice colours..!"

Randall took a glimpse of his own body and noticed that he had taken on Sullivan`s colours – he changed back to his normal shades of purple immediately, but the smile still remained on his face.

"Do you give?" Sulley`s arms were still wrapped around the smaller monster, and he showed no signs of letting go.

"Yeah, give…"

Randall sighed and allowed his body to relax – he felt tired from the fight, and right now, it felt amazing to relax in Sullivan`s arms like this. Sullivan made him feel…safe. When Randall had been crying last week, the feeling of the blue monster`s arms around him had been enough to make him feel better, and he had remembered the touch, the softness of the fur and the warmth for days to come. And he had actually been missing it. He had been missing it, and had also found himself longing for Sullivan to touch him again.

He didn`t quite understand his own desires, though; was it just because he was starving when it came to contact with others, and was drawn towards the first monster who had been kind to him in years? Or was it because of…something else..?

Randall didn`t know. All he knew was that he didn`t want this moment to end, and leaned closer to Sullivan`s chest. He could feel the bigger monster`s heartbeats, and noticed that they were beating a little faster than what was considered normal. But then again, so were his own…

"Randall…"

The sound of Sullivan`s voice caused the lizard to look up at his face and meet his eyes; they reflected his own questioning. He glanced into them for what felt like hours, and could feel himself being drawn towards them as his heart gained speed and his breathing went up – he felt the other monster`s hands on his back – his upper left hand closed around incredibly soft, blue fur –

* * *

The sound of a phone ringing had never seemed so loud before. Both of the monsters jumped, fumbled around and eventually made it back up at their feet, and after the fourth or fifth ring, Sulley was calm enough to answer;

"H-hello..?"

"Hello? Who is this?"

The voice on the line was unfamiliar, and Sulley wanted to throw the phone into the pond – if this was someone who had dialled the wrong number, he would personally murder them…

"This is James Sullivan, who is _this_..?"

"I`m calling from Upper Monstropolis Hospital… Are you a relative of Miss Sophie Boggs?"

"We`re friends..!"

The monster on the line fell silent for a little while. Sulley felt a little chill travel up his spine, and looked over at Randall, who glanced back with a questioning expression.

"…I`m afraid there`s been an accident…" The voice started talking again, but Sulley wished there was a way he could keep it from doing so;

"…I think you should come down to the hospital as soon as possible…"

For the second time that evening, Sulley shivered; the first time had been when he had been cuddled up with Randall in the snow - this time, it felt far more unpleasant.

* * *

**OMG, you must all hate me! XD I swear, I HATED to disturb Sulley and Randy like that, but I had to; it`s important for the story, and I PROMISE that the kiss will come soon! I`m so sorry!**

**What do you think of the chapter? And most importantly, how did you like the somewhat romantic parts? Since I`ve never been on a date, I`ve never really been in love either, so for all I know, I suck at writing about that kinda stuff. Despite that, I`m actually looking forward to write about the upcoming relationship, the kissing, and…we`ll have to see what happens between them;)**

**In the next chapter, Randall and Sophie will meet again. Are you excited about it? I don`t know when it will be ready, though. I think maybe by the middle of next week. **

**Take care everyone, enjoy your weekend, and please take the time to leave behind a review or a PM! :) **


	17. Chapter 17: The Longest Night

**Hi all!**

**I`m so sorry about the cliffhanger AND the interruption of the upcoming first kiss last time, it made me feel so mean! **

**With that being said, the response on the previous chapter was incredible – Thank you all! - I`m so glad you liked the romantic scenes, and that you seem to care for Sophie. In today`s chapter you will learn what happened to her.**

**Here`s the new chapter, I managed to put a few small, cute signs of romance in it, to make up for last time;) I hope you will like it!**

* * *

**Chapter 17: The Longest Night**

The room was impersonal and sterile.

Randall stared at the door a few feet away, and the fact that his sister was behind it made him shiver; he was glad he had Sullivan`s hand to hold on to. Quite reluctantly he gave it a squeeze, which caused the other monster to turn his head and meet the purple one`s desperate facial expression;

"It`s going to be fine".

He hugged Randall`s hand in return, and the lizard placed his head on the furry shoulder; he couldn`t find words to describe his gratitude for not being alone right now.

They had rushed to the hospital right after Sullivan had received the call in the park, and when they had arrived they had gotten to see Sophie`s doctor straight away. He told them there had been a car-accident. Sophie had been on her way home, and the road had been slippery; she had been forced to make a sharp turn in order to avoid a car coming in the opposite direction, and had ended up driving off the road and into a tree.

When the ambulance had arrived at the scene, Sophie had appeared to be fine; there were hardly any signs of injury on her body. But she was in pain, and it was discovered that she suffered from severe interior bleedings; according to the doctor her odds were 50/50.

"My family shouldn`t be allowed to drive cars…"

Randall`s mumble against Sulley`s shoulder caused the blue one to send him a sad smile in reply;

"No, they shouldn`t… They really shouldn`t..!"

He suddenly thought about something, and quickly added;

"…do _you_ have a license..?"

"No… because of my eyesight…"

"Thank God for that..!"

Randall gave Sulley`s hand another squeeze; intentionally this time.

* * *

"She`s ready to see you now..!"

The sound of the doctor`s voice woke Sulley up from his daze; he looked at the clock above the door, and noticed he had been out for around twenty minutes. He hated himself for falling asleep, but when he looked to his left, he saw that Randall looked like he had been out for a little while, too – it had been a long wait.

"She`s awake, and she wants to see you -" the doctor continued;

"You can enter, but only for a little while; she needs to rest".

Sulley felt another squeeze to his hand, and noticed that he was still holding on to one of Randall`s:

"Are you okay..?" He gave the monster sitting next to him a worried look, and chose not to let go of the hand yet.

"You enter first…"

"Fine -" The blue monster got up from the seat, let go of the hand and headed for the door. His heart was pounding, but unlike earlier that night it felt very uncomfortable. He wished he still had Randall`s hand in his own as he approached the door and opened it.

"Sulley..!"

Sophie`s trembling voice filled the little room. She was the only patient there, and she was placed in a bed by a window that overlooked the street below. If it hadn`t been for the machines she was hooked up to, there were no signs of her being injured at all; but she looked very tired – tired and scared.

"I`m so sorry, Sophie -" Sulley moved closer to her bed, and she took hold of both of his hands. The feeling of it surprised the blue one; when Randall held his hands, it gave him an almost electric feel – now he didn`t feel anything special at all; it felt just like touching a friend should.

"Thank you for coming…" Sophie gave him a tired smile;

"I didn`t know who else to contact… You were the only one I could think of…"

"Shhh, it`s okay… It`s okay." He hugged her hands and tried to make her relax against the pillow. But her eyes, however, wandered across the room, and she lifted her head with anticipation;

"Where`s Randall?"

"He`s right outside the door. Want me to get him?"

Sophie nodded and lay her head back down on the pillow;

"Yes, please".

Sulley released himself from Sophie`s grip and walked over to the door. He opened it and spotted Randall in the same seat as earlier, and noticed how the lizard instantly lifted his head at the sound of the door being opened. He stared at Sulley without a word, eyes silently questioning what was about to happen; Sulley nodded, and the purple one slowly got up and started walking towards the door with steps that reflected how insecure he was feeling. The blue one saw his struggles and placed a hand on his back as the lizard approached him;

"It`s going to be fine".

He led the way back into the room, and just as Randall stepped inside it Sophie`s voice filled the small space once again;

"Randall!" Her eyes widened as she took a closer look at her little brother;

"Oh my God, you`re so thin!"

"That`s nothing compared to the way he looked a couple of weeks ago..!" Sulley shot in. His hand was still on Randall`s back, and the purple one rolled his eyes - he wasn`t here to talk about himself;

"Yeah, yeah… I`m getting better, don`t think about it…"

Randall realized that this was the first time he was talking to his sister for around two years, and decided to change the subject; "Sophie, are you… I mean, how are you…are you…okay..?"

"I am _now_..!" Sophie smiled at her brother;

"Come over here!"

Sulley watched as Randall walked over to the bed and glanced down at his sister`s face. She stared back at him as tears gathered up in her eyes, and before the blue one knew it, the siblings embraced, cried and laughed in a perfect mixture. Sulley had to dry a tear at one point, too.

* * *

After several minutes of emotional overload, Randall finally let go of his sister and turned around to face Sulley again. His face was still a little wet from both his own and Sophie`s tears, but the smile he gave his newest friend was both genuine and warm. Sophie looked up at the furry one too, and tears continued to run down her cheeks as she thanked him over and over again;

"…I don`t know what to say, Sulley…you`ve done more for my family than anyone else I know; the way you are with Rex, the way you`ve supported me, and… what you have done for my brother…that you`ve brought us back together…I can`t believe it..!"

"It`s been a pleasure getting to know you both -" Sulley tried to participate in the conversation, but was interrupted by Sophie straight away;

"…Randall probably wouldn`t have been around anymore if it wasn`t for you. Thank you so much! Thank you _so_ much…Randall, I can`t believe it`s really _you_…"

Sophie took hold of her brother again and kissed him on the forehead; "All the things you`ve been through…Thank God you`ve had Sulley around…"

Sulley watched the scenes of joy and love, and almost forgot where they were. It wasn`t until the machines Sophie was hooked up to caught his eyes he remembered they were actually in a hospital, and that the female lizard was badly hurt;

"How are you doing, Sophie..?" He walked closer to the bed at glanced at her with concern;

"Are you in pain?"

"Not at the moment, no; they`ve given me morphine. I`m just a little tired -" She took of hold of Sulley`s hand with one of her own;

"But that doesn`t matter now..! I have my brother back!"

"Do you know how long you`ll have to stay here?"

"No, it depends…on how my wounds will heal…" She smiled, but Sulley could see there was a certain bit of nervousness to it;

"I need to rest, and…allow my body to heal. It could be _one_ week, it could be _two_…"

"Who`s gonna take care of Rex..?" Sulley hadn`t thought about Sophie`s son until now; there had been so many other things to take in.

Sophie didn`t answer him straight away; she looked down at her blanket. Then, after a little moment of silent thinking, she slowly lifted her gaze in order to face Randall, and asked him a question with her eyes; a question Sulley knew the purple one wasn`t too keen on answering.

* * *

"I don`t even know the kid".

Randall and Sulley walked down the corridor, heading for the exit. Sulley had offered to help Randall take care of Rex while Sophie was still in hospital, and Randall had agreed; that was all he dared to do in front of his wounded sister. Now however, he took out his worries on Sullivan, who tried his best to convince him that _Uncle Randall_ taking care of Rex was a good idea;

"He`s very sweet! And besides Randall, you`re his only family..!"

"He has a dad, doesn`t he?"

"He doesn`t know him, you know that".

"He doesn`t know _me_ either, he thinks my name is George!"

"Well, it makes no difference then, does it? And Sophie wants you to look after him, Randall".

"Why can`t _you_ do it? He knows _you_!"

"_You`re_ his uncle… And I`m going to help you Randall, it`s just that… I live with Mike, I don`t think he would like it if I allowed Rex to stay with us for a week or two… It`s better for everyone if he stays with you at _your_ place – I`ll come over every day, just like before, it`s just that…we`ll be three instead of two..!"

Randall growled; that was one of the facts he didn`t like about this. He wanted to be alone with Sullivan; he wanted to continue on where they had left off a few hours ago… Sullivan would probably only care for Rex now, and…

"_I think he sees Rex as a rival"._

Sophie`s words from when she had been talking to Sullivan at Randall`s place popped up inside the lizard`s mind and made him feel terrible about himself; he was actually jealous on a three-year-old whose mum was in hospital. He grimaced, and glanced over at Sullivan;

"_Promise_ you`ll still be there..?"

"Of course."

Sullivan placed his hand on Randall`s back, and the lizard swore he could feel him stroking it carefully as they went back outside into the winter evening.

"Okay, then…" He said, moving his gaze down to the sidewalk;

"I`ll do it".

* * *

Rex was at home with a babysitter, and Randall and Sulley decided it would probably be best to stay there with him for the night, and break the news about his mother to him in the morning. There was no need in waking him up late in the evening and move him over to an unfamiliar apartment; that would probably only upset him more.

Sulley called the babysitter once they left the hospital and explained the situation; he then asked her if she could stay with Rex for another hour – Randall needed some time to prepare his apartment for a toddler, and Sulley intended to help him.

Once they made it back to Randall`s apartment, Sulley realized there wasn`t that much they could do; they placed a mattress for Rex in a spare room and moved some fragile objects higher up from the ground, but that was just about it.

Sulley suggested that they should buy some crayons and books, and after taking a look in the cabinets in the kitchen, he decided they should probably buy some toddler-friendly food as well. And so they headed for a store to get some food and supplies for Rex before going over to Sophie`s house and actually start the babysitting.

* * *

"What does he eat?" Randall pushed the shopping cart through the aisles of the supermarket with sheer desperation, and Sulley ran next to it - trying to keep up with Randall`s four legs;

"Ummm… I know he likes spaghetti -"

Randall stopped by a shelf and threw ten packs of spaghetti into the cart;

"What else?"

"Umm… Pudding! Oh, and pancakes! With jam!"

"That`s it?"

"That`s all I`ve seen him eat".

Sulley recalled the day when he had been at Sophie`s house to get the key to Randall`s apartment, and how Rex had been completely covered up in jam. His thoughts wandered on to Sophie`s house, which had random spots from various meals all over it; the contrast to Randall`s stain-free, spotless place couldn`t possibly be bigger, and Sulley thought that his very neat friend was probably in for a shock…

"Sullivan, the store is about to close! What else can I buy him?"

Randall`s stressed out tone pulled Sulley back to the moment, and the blue one tried his best to come up with something else a child could eat;

"I thinks it`s always safe to buy cereal and stuff… and maybe pizza? Oh, and chocolate, in case you need something to bribe him with! It`s not exactly healthy, though -"

"It will do! We only need to keep him alive here, until Sophie`s back on her feet…"

The lizard picked out a variety of pudding, candy and chocolate and threw it into the shopping cart; it looked like he was about to arrange a toddler-birthday party, and Sulley couldn`t help but chuckle at the sight;

"Randall, relax..! He`s a really sweet kid, I`m sure he will like you and eat whatever you give him!"

The lizard looked far from convinced, but at least he didn`t complain anymore for the rest of their stay in the store.

* * *

After dropping off the groceries at Randall`s apartment, the two monsters called a cab and rushed over to Sophie`s house, where the babysitter was waiting for them. She refused to accept extra money, and said she wished everything would turn out well; she even gave both of the males a hug, and created a rather awkward atmosphere before leaving. Then suddenly she was gone, and Sulley and Randall were left alone in the house with Rex sleeping in his room upstairs.

"We should check on him…"

Sulley was already on his way up the stairs, and Randall didn`t dare to do anything but follow;

"What if he wakes up?"

"We _have_ to check on him, Randall!"

They went upstairs and into the little monster`s room; Rex was sleeping peacefully in his bed, sucking his thumb and clinging to his old blanket.

"That used to be mine..!"

Randall`s whisper caused Sulley to put his arm around him. They watched Rex in complete silence for a long time, a little nervous about how tomorrow would go.

While standing closely side by side, Randall looked at Sulley; their eyes met like earlier that night, and once again Randall could feel himself being drawn towards them. This time, however, he tore himself away from the intense, blue gaze; there was nothing he wanted more than to be even closer to Sullivan, but he didn`t want it to happen _here_, under these circumstances. He broke free from the arm holding him, and headed back for the stairs and the first floor. Sulley followed him, without anything good to say.

* * *

When they were back downstairs, they sat down on Sophie`s couch, not knowing what else to do. They both knew it was getting late and that they had to spend the night with Rex in the house, but none of them felt tired. They just sat side by side in complete silence, trying to take in all the impressions the day had brought them; it felt like a small eternity had passed since their dinner and walk in the park.

Sulley`s thoughts lingered at the special moment he had shared with Randall in the snow; he wondered what would have happened if he hadn`t received the call from the hospital… He took a glimpse at Randall, and felt how his heartbeat instantly went up just from the sight of him – they had only been a few inches apart out there in the snow, and there had been a certain spark in the emerald eyes Sulley hadn`t noticed before. He felt like touching the other monster again, but managed to keep himself from doing so; this wasn`t the right time or place.

Neither Sulley nor Randall knew for how long they sat wordlessly side by side on the couch; maybe for hours, maybe for minutes – they had both lost the track of time. They eventually started yawning as their eyelids became heavier – and by the time the moon lit up the snow-covered lawn outside, Randall was sleeping peacefully, resting his head on his snoring friend`s soft shoulder.

* * *

**Well, that`s it! What do you think? At least the ending is a lot cuter than the previous one, right..? :)**

**So, Randall and Sulley are going to take care of Rex for a while now; I`m super excited to write about it, I have been waiting for this for so long! The event was meant to happen a lot sooner, in my original script for this story Sophie was injured in chapter 4. However, I came up with a lot of other things that had to happen first, so I had to postpone it for a little while…until chapter 17… so only for a little while… xD**

**The next chapter, which I guess will be ready on Saturday or Sunday, will focus on Sulley and Randall`s first day together with Rex. **

**And in the one AFTER that… hold on to your hats…the first kiss..! And like I said earlier; after the first kiss, things will escalate rather quickly;)**

**I`m gonna go now, please take the time to leave me a review or a PM – it keeps me going:)**

**Take care until next time, and have a great Halloween! I`m gonna stuff myself with pumpkin pie and chocolate xD**


	18. Chapter 18: Sunday

**Hi guys!**

**Hope you`ve had a nice weekend and a scary Halloween! :)**

**The response on the previous chapter was amazing, you`re all too kind! Thank you guys so much, your feedback makes me wanna write more:)**

**I wanted to have this chapter out sooner, but I`ve been super-busy since Thursday, I`ve been attending several concerts with my choir this weekend – there`s been this "festival" in honour of a famous Norwegian church-music composer who happened to live and work in my town, and we`ve been attending three concerts in two days, and… *draws a deep breath*… time to breathe again now…**

**I`ve spent nearly every single minute of my free time this weekend in front of my computer with the new chapter, and I really hope you`ll like it:) It`s about Sulley and Randall`s first day together with Rex, who (do you remember chapter 5?) is rather shy around new monsters..! **

**At the same time, there are the romantic feelings between Sulley and Randall to keep an eye on! Our heroes are being drawn towards each other, and the kiss is not far away.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Sunday**

"Muuum!"

The loud cry woke Sulley up from his sleep, and for a moment he had no idea of where he was; he wasn`t in his bed, he wasn`t in his chair – in fact, he wasn`t even in his own apartment. He was in someone else`s house, on someone else`s couch -

The next surprise hit him straight away, when he realized he wasn`t alone, either; Randall was sleeping peacefully on his shoulder, and their faces were only a few inches apart. Sulley could feel the other monster`s soft breathing against his neck, and noticed that the feeling of it brought him some chills of the very best kind – chills he had felt the day before as well, when he had shared a special moment with Randall in the park -

"MUUUUUM!"

Sulley`s thoughts were interrupted by another loud cry from the second floor, and suddenly everything came back; the dinner, the walk in the park, the moment in the snow, the visit to the hospital, the shopping… and the fact that they were actually babysitting Rex, who was obviously awake and ready to start his day – even though the clock on the wall only said six thirty in the morning.

Sulley woke Randall up with a gentle pat on the shoulder, and chuckled at the purple one`s confused expression; clearly Sulley wasn`t the only one having trouble with recalling his memories from last night. The scaly one sat up straight, rubbed his eyes and took in his surroundings, still with the same look on his face; the expression of someone who had just woken up in an unfamiliar country.

A third cry from upstairs eventually brought Randall back too, and as realization hit him his confusion appeared to be replaced with nausea; Sulley had to drag him up from the couch and over to the staircase. A little earlybird awaited them upstairs, and they continued their journey to his bedroom with stiff necks and achy backs from the night on the couch, while desperately trying to come up with a good way to tell him about his mum.

* * *

The two figures who entered Rex`s room could might as well have been Santa and the Easter Bunny; the little monster doubtfully would have looked more shocked if that was the case. He sat in his bed with his mouth open, and stared at the visitors through emerald eyes that were wide open and full of wonder;

"Ulley..!"

"Hi, Rex!"

Sulley waved at him and sat down on the bed, carefully placing his hand on the tiny shoulder;

"Have you slept well?"

Rex didn`t answer - he didn`t understand. This was weird, new and very different; Sulley was never here at this time of day.

"Your mum -" Sulley started;

"Your mum…isn`t feeling very good…So she asked me if I could take care of you for a little while, until she`s feeling better..!"

Rex continued to stare with his mouth open.

"…are you okay with that, Rex?"

"…I ave a hundwed moneys…"

Clearly, Rex was a little too young to understand the situation. Sulley could actually _hear_ Randall`s shoulders dropping a little further down, and the blue one had to admit he was feeling a little relieved himself; perhaps this would work out just fine.

Rex, still a little startled, took another good look at Sulley to see if it was really him. Then he let out his usual _you`we ma best fwiend_, before he crawled into the furry, warm lap and greeted his friend with a loving hug. He started talking about absolutely everything as usual, but fell completely silent when he noticed there was another adult present in the room. Rex`s eyes filled up with insecurity, and before Sulley knew it, the toddler in his lap disappeared; however, he could feel four small hands taking a good hold of his fur.

"I brought someone I`d like you to meet, Rex -"

Sulley stroke the invisible head and spoke in his calmest, most soothing voice;

"Do you remember the day we were in the snow? And this monster over here played with us?"

He lowered his voice to whisper as he went on;

"I`ll let you in on a secret, okay, Rex..? His name isn`t George; his name is Randall. And guess what? He`s your _uncle_..!"

Rex remained invisible and didn`t say anything, and Sulley continued in a tone that was a pitch or two higher than the previous one;

"He`s mum`s brother..! And my friend! He`s very nice..!"

There were still no signs of response, and Sulley allowed his voice to go up yet another pitch as he went on;

"Rex? Can you say Uncle Randall? Uncle Randy..?"

When there were still no signs of response, Sulley indicated to Randall that they should give Rex a little more time. The scaly one left the room and headed back downstairs, and Sulley followed a couple of steps behind with the little one in his arms; trying to calm himself down by remembering the fact that Rex had been very shy when he had first met _him_ as well.

* * *

Rex lit up a bit more during breakfast; as long as Sulley stayed by his side. He knew the blue one, and talked to him in his usual manners as he covered his face in yoghurt. However, he didn`t seem to care much for Randall, and although Sulley tried his best to hide it, he was getting a little worried; it seemed to take Rex longer to warm up to Randall than it had taken him to get to know _him_. He didn`t even allow his uncle to pick up the spoon for him when he dropped it on the floor, and he started crying when Randall tried to wipe the yoghurt off his face; the blue monster was the only one who was allowed to touch Rex or his things, and Sulley figured that could lead to _big_ strains when he had to leave the orange one alone with Randall in the afternoon – strains for nephew as well as uncle.

After the early breakfast it was time to move Rex over to Randall`s apartment. Sulley had decided long ago to come with them to see if both were okay, and helped Rex choose some toys to bring along to his temporary home. The little one picked a variety of different things, and the other two allowed him to bring anything he wanted; the most important matter was that Rex felt safe and at home. Then so be the fact that he (as well as toys) also brought along a sofa cushion, a big wooden spoon and the laundry basket – with laundry.

They eventually made it out of the house, and Rex`s face lit up when he realized they were taking a taxi; that was a rear treat, and like most other male monsters of his age the orange one loved cars. He talked constantly all the time while they were driving, and when the laundry basket tipped over in the middle of a sharp turn and covered Randall in its content, the little monster laughed so hard he almost wet himself.

* * *

Sulley and Randall sat by the kitchen table and allowed Rex to explore the apartment in his own speed and place his toys and items at suitable places; they only interfered when he wanted to place the sofa cushion in the toilet.

Rex came running into the kitchen every once in a while to exchange random utterances with Sulley, but ran back through the door again straight away every time; there were so many new impressions to take in. Besides, a bowl of chocolate was placed on the living room table; its content seemed to decrease whenever Rex passed it.

* * *

Sulley spent the entire Sunday with Randall and Rex in the apartment. He talked to Randall, played with Rex, had lunch, read Rex a story, took them both outside for a short walk, helped Randall prepare spaghetti for dinner, helped Rex eat it - and helped Randall clean up the kitchen when Rex was done eating.

After dinner it was time to give Rex a bath; he was covered in sauce and ketchup and left stains everywhere, so Sulley figured the sooner the better – Randall was beginning to look a little desperate when he followed his nephew around with a mop. Sulley poured the bath, and when the young monster got in he couldn`t help but think a couple of weeks back in time, to the day he had prepared a bath for an extremely difficult and tired Randall. Had it really been only a couple of weeks since that day? It felt like it happened last year.

Whether they liked it or not, Sulley and Randall got a bath too; Rex splashed around in the tub and soaked the entire bathroom, and Randall laughed so hard at the look of a dripping wet Sulley he had to leave the room and take a break. It was the first time Sulley had ever heard him laugh like that, and although it was on his expense, the blue one had to laugh along; and when he got a glimpse of himself in the mirror above the sink, he laughed even harder.

When they all had dried up, Sulley brushed Rex`s teeth; Randall stood by the sink with some wipes to clean up the toothpaste that spilled everywhere. They eventually managed to put Rex to bed, and Sulley read him a bedtime-story; the blue one wanted Randall to do it, but Rex didn`t want that – his uncle was barely allowed to be present in the room while _Ulley_ read.

* * *

"I should head home now…"

Sulley closed the door to Rex`s room; the little one had been asleep for a good hour, and showed no signs of waking up again anywhere soon.

The blue monster`s words sent a shiver down Randall`s spine; he dreaded being alone with Rex. He had no idea of how to calm him down if he should wake up and cry; he was hardly allowed to touch him.

Sulley noticed Randall`s expression, but continued to speak about things the other monster really didn`t want to hear;

"Mike`s probably worried, so… I`ll see you tomorrow, okay..?"

Randall lowered his gaze; he wanted Sullivan to stay longer, but understood that he had to go home. Darn Mike. Lucky Mike.

"Okay…"

"Do you want to come over to the factory tomorrow? You can give comedy a chance while Rex is in dayscare..!"

Randall thought about it for a little while; he wasn`t so sure. However, he really wanted to see Sullivan again as soon as possible, no matter what the circumstances were. He nodded his head;

"That`s a good idea".

"Great! I`ll see you there at eight, then!"

"Are you coming over here afterwards?"

"Sure. I told you I`ll help you out here".

Randall sent Sullivan a grateful smile, and the blue one gave him one back.

While they were walking to the front door, Randall wondered whether he should hug Sullivan again or not. However, the blue one beat him to it; he placed his warm arms around the slender, purple form - and the lizard shivered when heard a soft whisper escaping Sullivan`s lips; _it`s all gonna be fine_.

Randall didn`t want the embrace to end – it felt so safe. So soft. So warm, so… However, despite his desire to hold on longer, he broke away from the other monster and took a step backwards. He glanced up at Sullivan and felt how his entire body started shaking when their eyes met. He had to say something;

"I…"

His throat was so dry, and he couldn`t come up with anything good to talk about right now.

"Here..!"

The sudden word from the blue one came as a surprise on Randall. Sullivan held out his hand and gestured that the scaly monster should take whatever he wanted to give him;

"What`s that?" Randall`s voice trembled, and the lizard was angry with himself. He wished to stay calm.

"You`re spare key..! I completely forgot about it, and I…thought you`d might want it back".

Randall looked at the key for a while; it was the one he had kept in his locker at work, the one Sullivan had used to get into the apartment to check on him when he had been down.

"…you keep it".

"What?"

"You can keep it".

Randall`s current expression was a perfect mixture of nervousness and despair, and he held his arms as close to his body as he possibly could, to keep them from shaking;

"I…I want you to have it".

Sulley could hardly believe what was happening here; Randall had just given him the key to his apartment..?

"Thanks -" he eventually managed to say.

"You`re welcome. See ya tomorrow".

With that said, Sulley stepped out into the hallway and Randall closed the door quickly.

* * *

"You`re home rather late..!"

Mike greeted his best friend in their apartment, and assumed the date had gone well; come to mind that Sulley wasn`t back until now.

"Yeah, I know."

The furry monster walked into the kitchen and got himself a glass of water. He knew Mike was going to question him about the night before, and wasn`t too keen on going through it all once again.

"How`d it go..?" Mike followed him into the kitchen and started asking straight away; the little green one was almost jumping with excitement.

"I don`t know, Mike – it`s difficult".

"How hard can it be?"

"How hard can _what _be..?"

"You and Randall..! Last night..! Ya know…" Mike gave his best friend a curious but very nervous smile;

"…did ya do it..?"

"What? No! Mike, something came up!"

"Yeah, that`s kinda the point..!"

"Mike, we had to go to the hospital! Sophie had an accident, and we had to go and see her! We spent the night on the couch at her house babysitting Rex!"

It took a while before the green monster spoke again; he could hardly believe Sulley`s date had been interrupted, and looked overly disappointed with the way things had turned out. Eventually Sulley was the one who continued talking;

"Sophie`s going to be hospitalized for a while, and Randall is going to look after Rex while she`s away. I promised him I`ll help him out, so I`m going over there again tomorrow after work, and -"

The smile returned to Mike`s face; he was relieved on behalf of Sulley. As long as he was hanging out with Randall, there were still chances they could find out how they felt about one another. The green monster`s voice was back in its normal tone when he continued talking;

"How`d the evening go before you went to the hospital..?"

"It went…really well…" Sulley gave Mike a shy smile;

"We made dinner, ate, and took a walk…and…"

A veil of sadness covered his face as he thought about the sweet moment that had been so brutally interrupted by the phonecall. He didn`t want to spend more time thinking about what could have happened, and decided to change the subject;

"You know Mike, Randall`s coming back to work tomorrow..!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, and he`s going to try out comedy".

"_Really_…? Are ya sure that`s his cup of tea..?"

"No, but he deserves a chance! Perhaps he has a talent for it, who knows – perhaps he can use his blending skills or his eyesight or something… But he`ll need someone to train with, someone who can spot talent…and teach him a few funny tricks…"

Sulley gave Mike a look no one could misunderstand.

The green monster sighed; he still wasn`t Randall`s biggest fan. Neither was he happy about teaching him how to be funny. But his best friend`s expression (and the knowledge of how much he cared for Randall) caused him to change his mind and agree with a smile;

"Sure..! I`ll help him..!"

A big smile stretched across Sulley`s face, and the very sight of it caused Mike to grin as well.

* * *

**Okay, that`s it for now. Did you like it? Please tell me:) Review, PM, whatever suits you most!**

**I`m not gonna tease you that much about the next update, I already know (from your feedback) you are waiting for it; the FIRST KISS! Finally! Yay! **

**I`ve already written the actual scene, and I have ALSO written the one featuring their SECOND kiss, AND I have written the scene leading up to the first time they make love..! Ahhhhh! I`ve been on a roll lately! I hope I`m not the only one being excited here xD**

**The upcoming week is going to be pure hell; I have **_**so **_**many things to do… Urghhh… I`ll write whenever I can, and I`ll try my very best to have the next chapter up by Friday. But I can`t make any promises. **

**See you around:)**


	19. Chapter 19: Changes

**Hey there!**

**I`m not gonna play with your patience any longer; I know you`ve been waiting for the first kiss for ages, so just go ahead and read the new chapter! Enjoy:)**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Changes**

Randall ignored the faces.

He was walking towards one of the laugh-floors at Monsters Inc. alongside with Sullivan and Wazowski, and, not surprisingly, every single monster present in the factory was staring at him.

Sullivan had told everyone about his return, but the other workers were obviously not used to the idea yet; the looks they were sending Randall weren`t exactly of the friendly kind, and those very few who didn`t send him a hostile glare simply turned around and looked somewhere else – except for Fungus, who fainted.

Randall had dropped Rex off at dayscare before meeting up with Sullivan and Wazowski, and had to admit that spending some hours away from his young nephew was quite a relief; things weren`t going all too well.

Rex had woken up in the middle of the night, crying, and had started calling for Sophie – and Sulley. A rather desperate Randall had tried his very best to comfort the little one, but hadn`t succeeded; it had been a complete chaos, until Rex, who didn`t want his uncle around and treated him like a perfect stranger, eventually managed to cry himself to sleep after a couple of hours. Randall did the same in his own bedroom.

They had both been a mess the next morning, and Rex had been crying through the entire taxi-ride from the apartment to the factory. Randall had a headache - even though he was actually wearing his glasses to work.

* * *

Sullivan had divided Randall`s first day back at work into two parts; before lunch he was going to observe Mike in action, and after lunch the little green monster was going to help Randall practice his comedy-skills in the simulator; try different things out, get some tips and so on. Randall would rather cut his own fronds off before spending an entire day alone with Wazowski, but had accepted Sullivan`s suggestion in order to not let his only friend down.

* * *

Observing Wazowski was okay.

Randall camouflaged and entered the rooms with the green eyeball, and stayed near the door as he watched how the other one did his job; the purple monster found the acts when Wazowksi accidentally hurt himself to be the most entertaining ones. When the job was done they exited together, and Mike always told Randall that the kid they had just made laugh was a _particularly _difficult one – Randall always growled in reply and wished he could just stay invisible and get the hell away from there.

After a long lunch with Sullivan, Wazowski and some more of their friends from the factory, it was time for Randall to practice his own comedy-skills with Mike. Sullivan promised to check in on them at some point, but had some business to take care of in his office to begin with; so he left the two other monsters to themselves, and prayed they would both be alright.

* * *

"Okay, Randy-boy -"

The purple monster grimaced as he turned his head and faced Wazowski; he could hardly believe the guy had actually managed to piss him off during the first minute of their lesson...

"Let me see your best try!" The eyeball gestured that Randall should try out the simulator straight away;

"C`mon Randall, I can never help you improve if you don`t show me what you`ve got to work with..!"

Randall walked, very slowly, over to the simulator; it felt like he was about to perform an exam, and he felt nervous – nervous and afraid of failing. This was all new to him; he used to be the second top-scarer, but he had never done _this_ before. What if he turned out to be just mediocre, one in the crowd? What if he wasn`t good enough to work here any longer? What if…what if he didn`t get to work here and…didn`t get to see Sullivan anymore..?

"I`m starting it, Randall..!"

The lights went out and the room fell silent as Mike turned on the machine.

Randall opened the door to the simulator and poked his head through; the "child" was asleep, and it all felt just like before – if he could only slither over to the goddamn brat and scare the crap outta him; _that_ would have been an easy task. But _this_… This was complicated.

Mike watched the purple monster on a little screen; he looked insecure. The green one didn`t understand exactly what Sulley had done to Randall, but no matter what it was, it had helped; the lizard had definately changed, and he was nothing like he`d been before.

_Nothing like before._

Mike suddenly felt a veil of compassion come over him, and started talking to the other monster again;

"Hey Randall, are you okay?"

The words caused the lizard to turn his head and look at Mike – his emerald eyes reflected the insecurity he was feeling;

"I don`t know…what I`m gonna do..!"

"But you spent _hours_ watching me this morning!"

"I know, but you -" Randall lowered his gaze;

"…you`re _good_ at this..!"

Mike`s expression changed. He looked at Randall, and for the first time in years, he saw the shy student he had first met in college; the monster who looked up to him. Man, Sulley had performed _magic_ here.

"I…" Mike didn`t really know how to respond to Randall`s last utterance, so he simply chose the first thing entering his mind;

"Thanks..! But I`m sure you`re not that bad either, just gimme your best go!"

"But I`m _not_ funny, Wazowski..! I don`t know any jokes, what am I gonna do?"

"You don`t have to tell jokes..! Just fall over, crash into things, put on a silly pattern -"

"NO!"

Randall snapped and caused the other one to jump in his chair. However, when the purple one spoke again, Mike noticed a sore sadness to his voice he had never heard before;

"I don`t…I don`t want to…make a fool of myself..!"

In that second, Mike understood; Randall wasn`t just being difficult, he was afraid to be laughed at. The green monster remembered some of the things Sulley had told him about Randall`s past, and he could fully understand why the scaly one didn`t want to spend his days acting like a clown.

"I see".

He went over to the simulator and placed himself next to the lizard monster;

"I totally see. I`m sorry, I shouldn`t have suggested that…"

Randall let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his fronds;

"It`s okay… It`s just that… I don`t mean to be difficult, but…I`m just so nervous about this whole thing...you don`t know what it`s like to – to try your best, but never…never succeed, and -"

Mike lifted his hand;

"Excuse me; _I _don`t know..? _I _don`t know what that`s like..? Randall, have you been smoking something?"

"What do you mean..?" The lizard looked confused.

"C`mon, don`t tell me you`ve forgotten about college..! Remember how hard I worked? How hard I tried? And I still didn`t succeed – Sulley had to cheat in order for us to win the scare games! I got kicked out of school! And you`re saying I don`t know what it`s like to fail?"

Randall`s eyes widened a bit as the green one went on;

"I know very well what it`s like to be the second-best! Or even third or fourth..! Sure, I`m among the best ones _now_; but c`mon, it`s like the first time ever in my entire life I`m doing something I`m being admired for! A couple of months ago I was a scaring-assistant!"

Randall sat down on the edge of the simulator and didn`t say anything for a while as Mike`s words sank in. The other monster sat down right next to him, and for a moment the scaly one wanted to tell Wazowski to leave him alone. However, what the eyeball had just told him made him think;

"I`ve never thought about that…" His lips curved upwards;

"Thanks for telling me…"

"No problem."

They sat like that for yet another while without speaking. The silence was a bit awkward, but Randall didn`t care – it was okay. It was perfectly okay.

* * *

After their little break, Mike and Randall decided to get something to drink from the cafeteria; it was quiet through the hallways of Monsters Inc. now that everyone else were working, and they didn`t run into a single soul on their way there.

As they walked by a big door, Mike suddenly stopped, clearly thinking about something. He took hold of Randall`s arm and lowered his voice to a whisper;

"Can you keep a secret..?"

"Sure…" The lizard was a bit surprised from Wazowski`s sudden change of manner, but didn`t really care; he was probably just gonna tell him about a stupid surprise for his stupid girlfriend or something…

"It`s in here – hurry!" Mike picked out a key and hurried to unlock the door. Once he was finished he pulled Randall inside it and locked it again;

"Once again; _promise_ you won`t tell Sulley?"

"Yeah… What`s the big deal?"

Mike lowered his voice even more, and Randall had to concentrate to hear what he was saying;

"_I`m fixing the door!_"

"What door?"

"Boo`s door!" Mike pulled Randall closer;

"They shredded it, but I`m putting it back together! It`s a surprise for Sulley, what do you think..?"

"Is that even possible? I mean, will it still work?"

"I don`t know, but… I wanted to give it a go! What`s there to lose?"

Randall looked over at Mike`s project; at this point, it was just a pile of wood.

"It`ll probably take you a while…"

"Sure…it`ll probably take me months…It`s nice, though – it`s like having the world`s biggest puzzle… I`ve actually been here working on it sometimes while Sulley`s been hanging out with you, Randall…"

Mike smiled. Randall felt a little uncomfortable, and felt he had to say something;

"Ummm… I think he will really appreciate it when it`s finished..!"

"I hope so...but remember, you _can`t_ tell him..!"

"I won`t. Thanks for showing me".

"You`re welcome -" Mike`s smile grew even wider as he eagerly went on;

"You know Randall, I was actually wondering if you wanted to help me rebuild it..! You`re a close friend of Sul now too, and I thought – well, I thought it would mean a lot to him if you -"

"No".

Randall`s interruption came as a surprise on Mike, who looked a little startled. However, the smile slowly returned to his face as the lizard explained;

"I`m his friend, sure; but you`re still his _best_ friend – so I think _you_ should do this for him. I`ve gotten to know him lately, and I must say; I know _you _still mean a lot to him, too…I`m not here to...to steal him from you..!"

"Thanks…" Mike still looked a little puzzled. However, as Randall`s words sank in, his smile became a little warmer;

"Thanks…_Randy_..!"

* * *

After they`d gotten their drinks, Mike and Randall headed back for the simulator. Mike really wanted Randall to give it a go this time;

"You don`t have to make a fool of yourself – try to speak, try to -"

"…you have to show me…"

"You watched me for hours this morning -"

"Wazowski, _please_..! I`m so uncomfortable about this..!"

"Fine, I`ll enter the room with you…but you`ll have to come up with something funny yourself, you need practice..!"

The simulator was still on, and both monsters entered the fake room - it was dark, and they had to spend some time to get used to it. Eventually Mike tried to push Randall forwards;

"C`mon now, say something! Wake the kid up!"

"Don`t push me!" Randall hissed;

"_You_ wake it up; this is _your_ field..!"

"But you`re supposed to try it – you can`t just watch me forever, give it a go, nobody`s looking..!"

"But what do you want me to do? You`re not helping here, I need tips!"

Randall gave Mike a push in return, and the green one almost fell over;

"Hey, careful!"

"Show me now – tell me what to say!"

"Okay..! Go over there, wake the kid up and tell it a joke! Something _you _find funny..!"

"But I`ve already told you, I`m _not_ funny!"

"C`mon, you must have a sense of humour..!"

Mike poked the other, and without even knowing it he hit a tickly spot on the other`s body. Randall jumped, and Mike poked him again;

"Ticklish, huh..?"

"Stop it, Wazowski! Seriously..!"

Mike didn`t stop; he loved Randall`s reactions to his poking, and the more he continued, the more Randall laughed;

"Stop it, goddamnit!"

"At least you know how to laugh..!"

The little green monster continued his friendly torture, and the lizard tried to push him away on several occasions, with limbs that were weak from laughing. Eventually, he managed to pull himself together and push Wazowski away once and for all; the round monster lost his balance, rolled across the floor and crashed into the wall on the other side of the room, causing a collection of footballs to roll down from a shelf – they all bounced through the entire room, except for one which landed in Mike`s mouth.

It took a few seconds from when the balls stopped rolling until Randall noticed there were still sounds in the little room - but to begin with he wasn`t sure about what he was hearing; but as he realized something was happening he turned his head, and saw how the robot in the bed sat up. It was laughing.

From across the floor, Mike tried to say something with his mouth full of football, but before he managed to express himself clearly, one of the walls in the simulator was lifted from the floor and revealed a third monster`s presence in the large auditorium;

"That was great!"

* * *

"I think it will be very good, Randall".

Sulley put his napkin down. It was later in the afternoon, and he and Randall were back in the lizard`s apartment with Rex. They all sat around the kitchen table eating pizza, and Randall was wiping Rex`s face free from ketchup;

"I`m not so sure…"

"Trust me; what I saw today was brilliant! We`ve never had anyone working in teams like that before!"

Sulley was still talking about Randall and Mike`s go in the simulator, which had convinced him that the two of them should work together in a team;

"…when you`re working together like that, you don`t have to worry about being laughed at, Randall! You`re with Mike, there`s two of you – and trust me, _he_ doesn`t mind being laughed at by a child!"

Randall thought about it for a moment – even though he had done nothing but thinking about it for the past hours… He still wasn`t so sure about working in a team with Wazowski, but Sullivan was right; it would make him feel better if he could by funny on behalf of someone else. And besides, Wazowski hadn`t been all that bad to be around today; he had actually been understanding and helpful, and Randall had been – god forbid - happy to have him there.

Another sob from Rex interrupted Randall`s thoughts; the little monster had been crying more or less non-stop since they had picked him up at dayscare, probably dead tired from last night.

"Do you wanna go to bed, Rex..?"

Randall spoke in his calmest voice, but there was no hiding the desperation beneath it; he was frustrated beyond explanation, and felt terrible about the fact that Sullivan was here to see how much his own nephew hated him.

"NO!"

Rex didn`t make it any easier for his uncle; he stared crying even worse, and threw his plate on the floor.

"Rex, you`re tired…" Randall gave it another try;

"Are you sure you don`t wanna get some sleep?"

"I want ma mum!"

"Your mum is coming back very soon, but right now you have to -"

"Ulley!"

Rex`s crying went up yet another pitch, and he reached all four of his arms out towards Sulley. The blue one felt uncomfortable; this was Randall`s nephew, and yet he was reaching out to _him_…

"I think your uncle is right, Rex..!" Sulley looked from Rex to Randall and then over at Rex again;

"I think you`re getting a little tired. Come on, let`s get you to bed – uncle Randall can read you a story".

"No..!" Rex was still sobbing, but eventually nodded his head and let out an unmistakeable yawn;

"…_you _wead stowy…"

* * *

The little monster was still sobbing every now and then as Sulley brushed his teeth, but calmed down once he was comfortably tucked in beneath his bed-sheets with his old blanket; he fell asleep straight away, and Sulley didn`t even reach to finish the first page of their book.

The blue monster watched him sleep for a little while, before he headed back to the living room where Randall was waiting;

"He`s sleeping". Sulley sat down on the couch;

"He was really tired, Randall; don`t take it personal. It`s just -"

"I`ll work in a team with Wazowski…" Randall sat down next to Sulley with an all blank expression, and the sudden change of subject came as a surprise on the blue one;

"Oh – okay! That`s…that`s great!"

"Want me to start for real tomorrow?"

"Sure, if you`re up for it, I mean -"

"I`m up for it…" He took a glance at the clock on the wall;

"It`s getting a little late, perhaps you should -"

"Randall -" Sulley placed his hand on the other monster`s shoulder;

"It`s okay if you don`t wanna talk about Rex. I understand".

"No, you don`t".

"Yes I _do_..!"

"No, and you NEVER WILL!" Randall`s sudden snap caused Sulley to jump with surprise, and he was sitting on the edge of his seat as the purple one poured out his feelings;

"You will _never_ understand! You will never know what it`s like to unpopular, what it`s like to be everyone`s last pick! You`re popular, everyone loves you – just look at Rex; I`m his goddamn uncle, and he still prefers _you_; everyone can see that..! I`m not even allowed to read him a goddamn story!"

Just as the last, hostile words left his lips, Randall felt the familiar, burning feeling from behind his eyes. He tried his best to blink the tears away, but gave it up straight away; there was no use in trying, the tears were simply too many to hold back.

"I-I should`ve seen this coming all along, Sullivan..!" He sobbed loudly, and the blue one pulled him into his chest by instinct. The purple one hid his face in the soft fur and allowed the crying to take him over;

"N-no one will ever like me, no one w-will ever care about me, I`ll _never_ be the best at anything - I just end up being runner-up in everything I do, I`m Rex`s o-only family member except from Sophie, and he _still_ hates me, I-I…"

"Shhh…" Sulley stroked his back gently;

"ShhShhShhh… He will warm up to you, trust me – you just wait and see…"

"He _won`t_, the kid _hates_ me..!" Randall looked up and tried to dry his face, but there was little use in it - it was soaked in tears again right away;

"Let`s just face it; nobody`s _ever_ going to see me as _anything_ else than a failure, a second-place, a jerk, a criminal, a loser, a…a…"

"I don`t consider you any of those things…"

"Yes, you do…"

"Randall -" Sulley took hold of Randall`s head and held it in a position which allowed them to look each other directly in the eyes;

"…I _don`t_."

"…then what _do_ you consider me..?"

A couple of seconds passed.

A couple of seconds of complete silence.

Then, without any further warning, the blue monster pulled Randall`s head a little closer to his own, and for half a second they gazed deeply into each other`s eyes. Three pairs of hands were shaking. Sulley closed his eyes. Two hearts were running wild.

Randall couldn`t swallow.

Sulley had troubles breathing.

And when their lips met for the very first time, it wasn`t without insecurity; both monsters were shaking, both felt a little nauseous, and both were more terrified than ever before in their lives.

And still, it all felt so right.

So fulfilling.

So natural.

So good.

* * *

**Well..? **

**What do you think, was it worth the wait? Please tell me, I`ve been SO nervous about this chapter - you have no idea of how many times I`ve edited the kissing-scene. I`m pleased with the way it looks now, and I hope I didn`t let you down! **

**And how about Mike? I just fell completely in love with him while I was writing, he`s being so nice to Randall – I think they have a fair chance of becoming friends again at some point, don`t you agree?**

**The next chapter has been started, and it will continue on the exact spot where this one ended; be prepared for more romantic stuff! I`m pretty sure you won`t mind..! ;) I`ll have it ready by the middle of next week!**

**That`s it from me for now, please take the time to leave me a review or a PM:)**

**Have a wonderful weekend everybody!**


	20. Chapter 20: Stormy Weather

**Hi!**

**Words can`t describe how happy I am that you guys seemed to like Sulley and Randall`s first kiss – I`m soooo glad I didn`t screw it up like I feared I would do :P Thanks for your response! :)**

**I know some of you are worried about Randall and Rex`s relationship, but today I have good news regarding it: this is the chapter where things get better between them! The actual scene was one of the first ones I planned out when I first started sorting out my ideas for this story :)**

**The new chapter starts where the last one ended, in the middle of a very longed-for kiss; I hope you`re prepared for more sweet stuff..!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Stormy Weather**

An overwhelming moment of pure bliss.

The kiss was longed for and wonderful, and even though Sulley and Randall broke apart after only a few seconds, the experience left them both satisfied beyond explanation; there had been so many moments leading up to this one, and the fact that it had finally come made them both feel weightless.

The blue one opened his eyes and looked straight into the lizard`s face; it had taken on a deep shade of pink – a colour that probably matched the way his own skin looked beneath the fur at that moment. He blinked a couple of times, but didn`t remove his gaze from Randall as he started talking again;

"T-that should pretty much explain it..!"

"W-what..?" Randall noticed that Sulley`s mouth was moving, but didn`t catch what he was saying; he was still lost in the experience they had shared a few moments ago.

"That should explain how I feel about you…" The blue monster wondered if his fur had always been this hot...

Randall`s shade of pink turned even deeper, and his face reflected just how shocked he was. He didn`t say anything, just stared at Sullivan, who could feel sweat starting to gather on the back of his neck;

"I…ummm…what do you say, Randall..?"

It took yet another while for Randall to reply, and when he finally spoke again his eyes were glued on a spot on the wall behind the other monster;

"…I…I thought you were only here out of pity…"

He swallowed;

"…but then there were the signs, the feelings…but I thought I was the only one noticing them – I thought it was only happening inside my mind – I seriously thought I was going insane…"

Randall`s face broke into a sad smile, and the furry monster`s reply came in a voice that was merely a shaky whisper;

"…me too…"

Randall`s eyes left the wall and wandered back to the other monster`s blue ones;

"I…haven`t really felt this way before…"

"…neither have I…"

"…but I…I think I…I mean, I _know_ I…I like you…a lot…Sullivan..!"

"I like you too, Randall…a lot…"

No more words were spoken as they continued to stare into each other`s eyes for yet another while; they had both confessed, and it was a relief beyond comparison that they felt the same way. Randall could feel how his heart was still beating faster than usual, and felt Sulley`s hand on his shoulder – he closed his own upper two around the soft fur on the blue monster`s arms and allowed himself to be drawn towards the other monster`s intense, blue gaze one more time…

* * *

When their lips met again, the insecurity had been replaced with passion; it was a welcomed yet unexpected change, and Randall couldn`t help but letting out a little moan as the other one opened his mouth. The lizard placed his upper set of hands on the back of Sulley`s head to pull him even closer, and allowed his lower two to wander across a fur-covered chest; and he could feel his entire body shiver when the other`s hands started travelling down his own neck and spine.

Randall`s breathing went up as Sulley`s hands carefully explored his upper body; the fur felt so soft against his scales, and it tickled in an extremely pleasant way; he moaned again as the hands touched the right spots, and he used his own four to touch the other monster`s chest and back in a variety of ways in return; before slowly moving them further down, desperately implying that he wanted to go further.

The blue one started kissing a bit more aggressively, but then he suddenly broke away and withdrew his hands;

"I-I`m sorry..!"

He looked embarrassed, and hardly dared to meet Randall`s gaze as he allowed his pulse to return to its normal range;

"I-I didn`t mean to get too eager..! I`m sorry – it`s just…I`m sorry..!"

"It`s okay, I`m…sorry, too…"

Randall caught up with his own breathing; he couldn`t believe he had allowed himself to get that carried away. It was only their second kiss, and he had been acting like a desperate teenager – he swallowed, and looked ashamed;

"I really am sorry…"

"It`s fine…it`s fine…it was my fault as well…" Sullivan coughed oddly;

"…I just…think we shouldn`t move that fast, I think we need…some more time…"

"Yeah…probably…"

They both leaned back on the couch and didn`t say anything for a long time. Eventually Sulley got up, and when he spoke, Randall was relieved to hear that his voice had gone back to normal;

"It`s getting late, I think I should head home now..!"

"Okay…Thank you for coming over, it`s been…nice…"

"Yeah…See you at work tomorrow..?" Sulley`s tone was hopeful.

"Definitely".

Randall walked Sulley to the door, and they shared a quick hug; the tension between them was still a bit awkward, but they both smiled as they broke apart from the embrace and said good night.

* * *

The weather was changing; the temperatures were on their way up, the snow was wet and heavy, and water was dripping from the rooftops.

Randall stood by the window in Rex`s room and glanced at the clouds that had started to gather in the horizon, before he turned around to look at his little nephew; Rex was sleeping peacefully on the mattress on the floor, and he clung to the blanket that had once belonged to his uncle.

Randall bent down and tucked the sheets a little tighter around the sleeping figure, and as he did he allowed one of his hands to gentle stroke the single frond on Rex`s head;

"…good night, kid…"

Then he got back up and left the room. Something inside of him was beginning to hurt, and he figured he could might as well go to bed, too.

* * *

A loud noise woke Randall up. He sat up in his bed, disoriented and with wide open eyes, and tried to figure out what time it was; but the room was way too dark to see what the alarm clock on the nightstand was saying, so he reached for the light switch. However, before he even got to touch it, the room suddenly lit up – and then a new, loud rumbling sound made it feel like the entire room was shaking.

_Thunder_.

Randall lay down again immediately, and covered himself in the sheets; he even placed the pillow over his head in an attempt to keep the sounds away, but couldn`t help but noticing the rumbling.

He had been afraid of thunder his entire life, and had given up on telling himself there was no danger. He knew that thunder, or at least the lightening, could actually _be_ quite dangerous, so there was no need in fooling himself; it was okay to be scared, as long as no one else knew. Well; except for Sullivan and Sophie…

Randall remembered the day Sophie had told Sullivan about that night years ago, when an eight year old Randall had slept in his big sister`s bed since he was afraid of the thunderstorm raging outside; it was that night the relationship between him and his sister had been healed, and Randall could still remember it - he remembered how scared he`d been and bad he`d cried, and –

He sharpened his ears; a noise had caught his attention. It couldn`t have been caused by the weather, it sounded more like…a cry. He gently removed the sheets in order to listen better, but another loud bang from the storm outside caused him to cover himself up again straight away. He shivered.

But there it was again; the sound. It was a cry, now he was a hundred percent sure. Randall narrowed his eyes and listened again; now it sounded like sobbing.

It took him about ten seconds to realize that the sounds came from his nephew`s room; Randall jumped to his feet and headed for his own bedroom door to see what was going on, but the room was very dark - he fumbled around for a little while and hurt his leg when he crashed into the dresser. Luckily lightening lit up the sky again and provided him with enough light to locate the door, but another loud boom straight afterwards caused him to let out a little shriek as he entered the living room.

* * *

Rex had buried himself in his bed-sheets and was sobbing quietly as his uncle entered the room; Randall clearly wasn`t the only one who was afraid of thunder. The grown monster stood still for a moment, but eventually sat down at the edge of the mattress and placed a hand on what he assumed was Rex`s back;

"What`s the matter, Rex..?"

He immediately regretted the question, it was quite obvious what was the matter; but he couldn`t think of anything better to say.

Rex didn`t respond straight away; he just continued sobbing beneath the sheets. Randall stroked his back and tried to calm him down, but yet another boom from outside caused them both to jump again. The purple one tried his best to stay strong;

"…it`s okay, Rex…"

"…I`m scawed..!"

Rex finally poked his head out from his hiding place, and Randall could feel something touch his heart at the sight of his nephew`s face; the little monster was shaking, his wide open, emerald eyes were wet, and tears were running down both of his cheeks.

As in a flash, Randall saw himself; he saw himself as a child, standing by Sophie`s bed, expecting her to comfort him - and now he realized that Rex expected the same thing from _him_.

There was only one problem; Randall was terrified as well.

He didn`t say anything, just continued to stroke his nephew`s back. Rex continued to cry, and when the lightening lit up the room again he turned invisible. He screamed at the sound of the following, deep rumble, and Randall whispered;

"I`m scared too..!"

His voice was just loud enough for Rex to hear, and the little one re-appeared and looked at his uncle with surprise;

"…but you`we a gwown up..!"

"Grown-ups can be afraid too kid, trust me. It`s normal." He tried to smile;

"…and I`m not just afraid of thunder… I`m also afraid of spiders, the human world, failure…loads of things..!"

"I`m scawed of thundew too…" Rex confessed to his uncle;

"…and I`m scawed of bees and cwocodiles and zombies and the bogey-man and twolls and -"

A new rumble sounded from the sky, and Rex let out another little scream and crawled closer to his uncle, who placed his arm around him;

"…I guess we`re both afraid, then…" He sent another smile in Rex`s direction;

"…but at least there are no bees in here..!"

"…and no spidews..!"

"…or crocodiles!"

"…or -"

Lightening stroke again, and Rex took hold of Randall`s hand and buried his face in his uncle`s chest.

Even though Randall was still afraid of the weather outside, a wonderful, warm feeling came over him with his nephew`s touch; the little one trusted him to comfort him.

"…what do you normally do when you`re afraid, Rex..?"

"Mum make it go away…"

"Well, she`s not here now, unfortunately… Do you think _I_ can make it go away..?"

Rex looked a little sceptic;

"…maybe…but...but _you`we _also scawed..!"

"…That`s right…what can we do about that…" The purple monster pretended to think hard about something;

"…I think I have an idea…"

"What idea?" Rex looked interested.

"Well, if _I_ help _you_, and _you_ help _me_, then…then none of us have to be afraid anymore..!"

"…yeah..!" Rex looked impressed over his uncle`s idea, and started comforting the grown up right away, by patting his arm;

"…don`t be scawed, unca Wandall..!"

"…don`t be scared, Rex..!"

The little one grinned - this was fun;

"…I`ll take cawe of you!"

"…I`ll take care of you too..!"

Rex laughed;

"…you`we ma uncle..!"

"…you`re _my_ uncle..!"

"No, I`m not!"

Rex laughed even more and threw himself against Randall in an attempt to teach him a lesson by tickling him. However, a new stroke of lightening caused him to cry out again.

"It`s okay, Rex -"

Randall counted the seconds it took for the sound to reach their ears;

"…it`s on its way away from us now..!"

"…pwomise..?"

"…yeah…so we should get some sleep now…"

Randall tried to get up from the mattress, but was held back by four small hands gripping onto his tail;

"No!"

"We _have_ to sleep, Rex, it`s the middle of the night..!"

"…don`t go!"

The orange monster stared at his uncle with eyes were still a little watery, and Randall sighed;

"Okay…how about I just sleep here with you..?"

Rex smiled and moved a little closer to the wall, giving the purple one more space. Randall lay down beside him, and felt all soft as his young nephew gently draped the sheets over both of them and leaned against him. The little one stuck his thumb in his mouth, and Randall noticed that he was still clinging to his blanket;

"You know Rex, that used to be mine..! When I was your age, I couldn`t sleep without it!"

"I know…" Rex mumbled with his mouth full of thumb, but suddenly he thought of something and added;

"…you want it back now?"

Randall laughed;

"No..! No, it`s yours now…you need it more than me…"

"…you can bowwow it..!"

The purple monster could hardly believe how goodhearted his nephew was, and offered him a suggestion;

"…how about we share it..?"

Rex gave him a tired grin in reply, and they placed the blanket between them on the mattress. Then they both closed their eyes, and after only a few minutes Rex was sleeping peacefully, comfortably cuddled up against his uncle`s chest. Randall watched him, and for the first time in years, he felt _successful_; he smiled to himself, and allowed the rhythm of Rex`s breathing to carry him off to sleep.

On the outside of the building, the storm was over – the nasty weather had passed.

* * *

**Awww..! Family resemblance, they`re both afraid of thunder :) **

**I hope you liked the chapter, and that you`re kind enough to leave me a review or a PM – those things boost my motivation! I`m a quick updater, sure, but that actually has to do with you; you`re always good at leaving behind response and ideas, and I am so incredibly thankful! :)**

**So, for the next chapter… I don`t want to kill the excitement and give it all away, but I thiiiiink you will like it..! Remember when I wrote that things would escalate quickly after the first kiss..? ;) **

**And just to sort things out; Sulley and Randall WILL make love in this story, but I`m NOT going to describe it in detail so it will look like porn or something – that won`t fit with the rest of the story. But I`ll try my best to write exciting scenes without being too graphic and descriptive ;) Wish me luck!**

**Time has gone so fast since I started this story, and I can`t believe I`ve made it to chapter 20 already. And I **_**can`t believe**_** it will all be over soon… But the truth is, it looks like there will only be six more updates still to come; five chapters and an epilogue. I hope you will all hang in there till the end!**

**Don`t know exactly when I`ll be done with the next chapter, but I guess it will be published during the weekend; I`m going to be home alone, and that means more time to write :) (it also means a higher intake of chocolate, but that`s another thing…)**

**Until then, be safe and take care, my lovelies! :) **


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